


Betrayal

by lucretiaaston



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Armitage Hux Has Issues, Armitage Hux Needs A Hug, Armitage Hux is Not Nice, Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Dominant Armitage Hux, Dominant Kylo Ren, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Inappropriate Use of Lightsabers, Inappropriate Use of the Force, Kylo Ren Has Issues, Kylo Ren Needs a Hug, Kylo Ren Redemption, Kylo Ren is Not Nice, Protective Kylo Ren, Redeemed Ben Solo, Rough Sex, Sex, Slow Burn, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:21:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 23,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23742205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucretiaaston/pseuds/lucretiaaston
Summary: Vallterene Supiatrist is the sharp tongued but reserved apprentice of Emperor Palpatine, tasked with an important mission to report on the conflicted Kylo Ren.What happens when her emotions...and a certain ginger haired general threaten to get in the way?*Set during the time period of The Rise of Skywalker*
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Original Character(s), Armitage Hux/Original Female Character(s), Armitage Hux/Reader, Kylo Ren/Original Character(s), Kylo Ren/Original Female Character(s), Kylo Ren/Reader
Comments: 15
Kudos: 88





	1. A change of plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Setting up what is about to go down

"Our plans, have changed"

The familiar voice of Emperor Palpatine echoed throughout the cavernous expanse of his base on Exegol, directly towards a shrouded figure who was as knelt on the cold stone floor before him. Slowly, the figure looked up to make eye contact with the powerful but gnarled old man who stood, hooked up to a number of machines tasked to keep him alive, before them. The figure appeared to be a young woman, with raven black hair which fell to her waist. and piercing blue-grey eyes which stared intently up into Palpatine's own unnaturally coloured orange and yellow eyes, which peeked out from under the heavy black hood he was wearing. This woman was Vallterene Supiatrist, a very promising young talent who was extremely strong with the force, from relatively unknown origins.

Screeching lightning flashed around the room through the roof-less ceiling, adding to the increasingly unnerving vibe of the area but by now, she was used to it. Since joining Emperor Palpatine and agreeing to train under him as his apprentice, she had been staying on the ominous planet and had long since grown accustomed to its stormy, dark atmosphere.

"How so?" the woman found herself asking, her voice coming out louder than intended, booming around the room.

"I knew that Kylo Ren was weak, but his conflict has grown ten fold...he could fall to the light at any moment so I need a direct route to him."

The news didn't surprise Vallterene, during her briefings and daily training with the emperor he had been informing her of the issues he was having with Kylo Ren, which she suspected was probably to cause her ambition of taking over Ren's position to grow , which she could assure the Emperor was already burning inside, should he have asked.

"Will you be asking General Hux..."

"Hux's abilities have appeared less impressive and trustworthy since the error of Starkiller base...I need a closer link"

She also expected this. It was clear that Palpatine did not trust General Hux as much as he had when he was expressing himself through Supreme Leader Snoke, after Starkiller base had been such a failure.

"Me?"

The emperor smiled down at her creepily, the flashing light from the frequent lightning illuminating his broken dark stained teeth as he did so, his machines allowing him to move slightly closer to her.

"You." He confirmed, a gargling and choking chuckle clawing its way out of his throat.

"I want you to go to him under the guise of me giving you to him for him to train you. You'll report to me directly on him and monitor him. Feed on his confliction and expose it if you must"

Nodding, eventually Vallterene was dismissed by the emperor and she headed back through the cold, sprawling, labyrinth of corridors outside to her TIE fighter; welcoming the limited warmth that its cockpit had to offer.

Sighing as the cockpit hissed closed, the TIE fighter lurched into life and lifted off the ground as it began to rapidly zoom upwards towards her star destroyer 'Survivalist' which was secretly tucked away unassumingly at the back of the new Sith Fleet.

**************************************

"I understand, Emperor"

Deep in the underbelly of the Finalizer, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren was partaking in a briefing with Emperor Palpatine, after agreeing to work with him in order to defeat the rebellion and the potentially dangerous jedi Rey, who was a threat to his authority of the galaxy.

The room was darkened, and was actually the same chamber that he used to host correspondence with Snoke with, though for those he was usually accompanied by General Hux, who he could already sense was infuriated with his leadership.

"There is also a transport on its way with some stormtroopers to the Finalizer from the sith fleet and you should be present for its arrival, just a fragment of what I can provide" Palpatine announced, his gravelly voice crackling through the hologram alluding to something more, piquing Ren's curiosity.

With that concluding statement, The Emperor's hologram fizzled out leaving Ren in the empty room, staring at the wall where the old sith lord once was.


	2. The Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vallterene arrives on The Finalizer, and someone doesn't seem to happy to see her.

Vallterene stood in the large transport ship, holding onto a bar above her head in order to steady herself. Immediately surrounding her, were a group of scarlet armoured specialist sith-troopers, tasked with making sure she was safely delivered to Kylo Ren on the Finalizer. Around the sith-troopers further into the ship, were rows upon rows of ordinary white armoured stormtroopers, staring straight ahead obediently, clutching their standard issue F-11D blaster rifles.

Through the limited number of windows, the young woman could see the looming expanse of the Finalizer rapidly approaching, as the transport ship began to ascend to the landing bay hangar level of the ship, in order to deliver them all safely.

For no particular reason, Vallterene found herself subconsciously looking down, checking that the matte black and silver hilt of her lightsaber was still strapped to the tight black leather belt around the waist of her deep black robes, though she already knew it would be.

_Will he attack me?_

_Probably not. Well...hopefully not._

She thought curiously, intrigued as to what the Supreme Leader's reaction to her arrival would be.

Vallterene knew the Emperor wouldn't have told him she was coming, that wasn't his style. The old man liked a surprise and she knew he was twisted like that.

With a juddering halt, the transport slid cleanly into the landing bay, and attached to its landing pad before it slotted into position. The gang plank slid out and down to the floor of hangar, and row by row the ordinary stormtroopers began to disembark, as the sith-troopers turned to look at her, as if asking permission to leave the vessel. Nodding slightly, the red troopers turned to the front and once again and began to uniformly march down the ramp, Vallterene at the centre of their formation.

The busy landing bay soon came into view, rows of TIE fighters and cargo ships lined the walls, with a TIE fighter returning to the bay frequently. The stromtroopers that had been on the ship with Vallterene and her sith-troopers were now neatly lined up, being addressed by who she presumed was General Hux; a tall, pasty ginger man who's uniform was so neat that she expected if you were close enough to him she'd be able to see her reflection in his perfectly polished black boots.

However, it was who was stood beside him, who was staring intently at her that interested Vallterene further.

The purpose of her mission, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren.

The woman couldn't read his facial expression because of the helmet that he wore, but she guessed he was probably angry or intrigued...possibly even both.

Abruptly, Ren shoved past Hux to march towards her, causing Hux to look up and notice as well.

Vallterene and Kylo met at the bottom of the ramp, his towering form looming over her somewhat petite frame.

"Who are you?" 

It was clear to her that he could sense that she was strong with the force and wanted to know what was going on...that and he could see the black sith robes she was wearing and the lightsaber at her waist.

"My name is Vallterene Supiatrist, I have been sent by Emperor Palpatine to be your apprentice, Supreme leader" The woman flicked her hood down, revealing her full head, black tresses falling out. Respectfully, she bowed her head awaiting his response.

"Palpatine did not mention you"

Even through the voice modulator in his helmet that distorted his voice, Vallterene could tell that he was extremely pissed off.

The pair were abruptly interrupted by General Hux, who barged into the conversation with a sneer on his pasty face.

"Who is this?" he leered down at her, clearly appearing to think himself superior to her.

Vallterene turned to Hux, looking up at him and very obviously scanning his face in a bored manor.

"I am Vallterene Supiatrist, the supreme leader's apprentice"

"Apprentice?!" Hux scoffed, turning to Ren amused, clearly appearing to think the situation was the height of hilarity.

"Aren't you still an apprentice yourself, Ren"

Suddenly, the ginger general began to choke, his leather gloved hand flying up to his throat in shock as Ren turned swiftly to the young woman who was clearly choking out the general. Using the force, Vallterene brought Hux startingly close to her face.

"If you are displeased with me, General, you should take it up with Emperor Palpatine," she tightened her grip on his throat with the force, making his eyes widen, "I am sure he'd be thrilled to hear your thoughts" Vallterene spat venomously, before abruptly releasing him, making him stumble backwards as he desperately gasped for breath.

Taking a deep breath herself, Vallterene turned back to Kylo Ren.

' _For stars sake we aren't off to a great start here are we_ ' she thought to herself, annoyed that she had let her temper get the better of her once again.

"When shall we commence training...and do you happen to know where my quarters are?"


	3. Matters of the mind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A stressful first training session and a night time liaison spell trouble for Vallterene.

Vallterene never thought she would live to see the day that she actually missed Exegol. She had come to realise that it's empty, dark terrain and horrendously stormy weather were welcoming to her, unlike the cool, professional and sleek star destroyer she was now forced to live on 24/7. Sure, she could appreciate how wondrously technologically advanced they were, but there was nothing remotely similar to Exegol on board.  
No place like home, they say.

The thing Vallterene had decided she missed most about that foreboding planet, was the ability to be able to go and run away from everything. On the Finalizer, she was confronted by her problems practically every minute; and one of them happened to be staring at her right now.

Kylo Ren stood at the opposite end of the training room, clad in his thick black robes and intimidating helmet as per usual. The supreme leader hadn't spoken a word yet, he merely stood staring at her...possibly sizing her up.  
"We will focus on all matters of the mind today" the command was clear, no room for arguments, voice slicing through the air sharply.  
Abruptly, Kylo began to stride forwards, his heavy black books thudding against the floor of the space, creating a monstrous echo which reverberated around the room.  
"Try and block me out"  
Ren's arm suddenly shot out, an extension of the powerful force that flowed through him; trying desperately to access her mind.

  
If she said his assaults against her mind didn't hurt, she would most definitely be lying.

  
Attempting to remain calm, Vallterene's eyes fluttered closed as she imagined and visualised the highest, strongest and most impenetrable wall she possibly could. Screwing her eyes shut even harder as her heart thudded angrily against her chest, Vallterene's fists clenched at her side. It was as if Kylo was physically probing her brain with his lightsaber.   
Hissing with exertion, he finally stopped.  
"Good" Ren hissed, the praise was definitely not meant to be positive, Vallterene knew she had seriously pissed him off, feeling the rage radiating off him through the force.

  
The duo slowly began to circle each other as once again, very obviously, Ren sized her up.   
"Stop looking at me like that. Stop doing that" her voice was cold, threatening.   
"Who do you think you are, talking to me like that?! You are my apprentice and I am your master, you shall address me as such" Vallterene rolled her eyes. She could tell she had absolutely infuriated him, but his blatant inflated ego and god complex was seriously getting on her nerves.  
"I'll address you as my master when you prove yourself worthy, you couldn't even get into my mind" the young woman scoffed scornfully, narrowing her eyes at him out of spite.   
Once again, she couldn't see his face from under that mask, but Vallterene could guess he was probably red with anger.  
"Okay" even through the modulator, his apprentice could detect the cool, scarily calm tone of his voice. "How about you try and get into my mind then"   
Clearly, he didn't think her capable.  
"Fine" she sighed, leisurely raising her arm.  
Like flowing water, Vallterene could feel the force moving through her body, it's hot caress enveloping her cells as it used her as a conductor.  
Eventually, she felt her force hit Ren's mental block, it was definitely strong, she's give him that. Vallterene channeled as much energy as she physically could, determined to break through into his mind, not only to prove herself and her strengths but also to find out his weaknesses and to finally destroy this utterly broken, useless waste of life.

Ren shook where he stood, veins popping out of his neck and forehead as he clenched his leather clad fists, refusing to give in to his surprisingly strong apprentice.  
He felt annoyed and betrayed by himself. Of course palpatine would send him someone so barely manageable, to make him inferior and show him up; why hadn't he realised that!   
However, it was this realisation that was ultimately his down fall. This momentary lapse of concentration was all Vallterene required to instigate her final push and enter the dark recesses of Kylo Ren's mind.

The first thing she saw was his father, Han Solo,'s face as he murdered him with his lightsaber, the weapon crackling in protest as it seared through the older man's flesh. Then she saw the face of Rey, the force sensitive scavenger whom he despised, she felt his anger towards her but his conflict towards the light. Vallterene saw Snoke and the Emperor, felt his hatred towards them both before what felt like a million faces and emotions that were foreign to her. However finally, she saw herself dance around his thoughts. The apprentice saw herself through her masters eyes as she arrived, felt his confusion as she emerged from the transport and felt his...admiration? Pride? When she choked out General Hux. Vallterene felt his resentment towards her...but there was something else...something deeper, more...deprived. Was it lust? She didn't know, but whatever it was she could feel that he had been desperately restraining himself from it. Vallterene tried to sift further into his thoughts and emotions towards her, but he soon managed to expel her from his mind.  
But the last thing she saw before he was successful, was the dream he had about her last night.  
***************  
It was late into the night cycle aboard the Finalizer, but Vallterene was still very much awake. She was stood, legs a shoulders width apart in the middle of the training room, which she had snuck into; clutching her blood red lightsaber with both hands in front of her. As she shivered slightly, she was exceedingly grateful for the very thick and insulating standard issue First Order officers winter coat that she had found in her chambers, which she'd quickly donned over the red silken pyjamas she was wearing.   
Slowly, Vallterene spun the deadly weapon at her side, testing it as if she had never tried it before. Growing more confident, she eventually progressed to swinging it violently fast in an X formation around herself. In fact, she was so absorbed in the blur of red all around her, that she let her guard down and didn't sense her master's arrival.  
He was observing her with some degree of curiosity, remaining in the open doorway. As he watched his apprentice slow down her spinning, he chose to speak.  
"That is just a lights show. There is no battle technique present there"  
His modulated voice made her jump, wheeling round to face Kylo Ren, she pointed the lightsaber threateningly at him with one hand.  
The young woman gulped at the sight off him, recalling the lurid fantasy involving herself that she had seen in his mind earlier.  
"Do not ever point your weapon at me" his voice was cool, but angry, like pretty much always.  
Reluctantly, she extinguished the scarlet blade, it disappearing into the hilt once more, with a protesting hiss.  
"I have not been taught any battle technique, I barely know how to use this thing"  
"I could tell" his bluntness made her frown.  
Slowly, she felt him use the force to gently turn her around, her back to him.  
"You could've just asked me to move" Vallterene huffed, when all of a sudden a hard surface was pressed to her back, and Kylo Ren's leather hand was slowly running down her right arm, which clutched the hilt of her saber.  
She felt him bend down slightly, the cool surface of his mask brushing her burning left cheek.  
"Ignite" the command had clearly been spoken lightly, coming out quiet and crackly through the helmet. Obeying, she pressed in the ignition and the blade once again screeched into life.  
His grip on her wrist tightened, as she felt his other hand grasp her left hip, steadying her as he guided her to slowly raise the weapon.   
"Your lightsaber, should be an extension of your own arm" he gently manipulated her wrist to swing the lightsaber in all manners of complicated ways which were shockingly easy to manage.   
"You should trust in both the force, and your lightsaber"  
Vallterene could barely breathe as he pulled her closer to him, continuing to swing her lightsaber around. They had been doing this in silence for quite some time, before she broke it.  
Gently, she turned in his grasp which he allowed, so she was at an angle, peering up at him.  
"Take off your helmet" she requested, looking up at him inquisitively through her lashes.   
At that, Kylo Ren completely froze. His almost ghostly grasp on her wrist suddenly tightened harshly as he tugged her forward.  
"Who do you think you are to ask me that?"  
"You're my master...I just want to see who you are"  
"Nonsense"   
Unexpectedly, the supreme leader roughly pushed pass her, forcing her lightsaber back into her proper grasp as with a swish of his black robes, he was gone.


	4. The Supreme Council

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vallterene appears to improve her relationship with Hux, to the annoyance of Ren as she appears to make yet another enemy.

Spending the day with General Hux and the evening with Kylo Ren was not high at all on Vallterene Supiatrists' list of things she would like to do aboard the Finalizer, but here she found herself, wandering aimlessly behind the ginger as they made their way up to the bridge.

"I'll introduce you to Allegiant general Pryde and then it will be time for the meeting with Ren and the rest of the supreme council"  
"And I'm supposed to go to that?"  
"Apparently so" his tone conveyed that he wasn't particularly happy with the idea of her coming either.  
"I feel like we got off to a bad start, Hux" Vallterene kept her tone measured and neutral. She didn't want this to sound like an apology, more like a fresh start.  
"Oh? Why ever is that?"  
His sarcastic, petulant tone almost made her laugh. General Hux reminded her of a spoilt child occasionally...a very lonely spoilt child at that, as she saw him give her the side eye as they walked.  
"We are going to be working very closely together, I'd like to pride myself on not being as detached from reality as Kylo Ren"   
At this bold statement, Hux's head flew to face her so fast that she thought he would mess up his perfectly coiffed hair. He looked as though he was going to agree with her statement, or add a dig of his own, before a very familiar distorted voice interrupted.  
"Detached from reality, apprentice?" Of course, he had to arrive just as she was bad mouthing him. She couldn't have it easy, could she.

"Yes. Incredibly so."  
Vallterene shot her hand out to Hux to shake, as she noticed him flinch almost imperceptibly at her action, as if he had expected her to hurt him. Tentatively, he reached out to shake it in return.  
"Vallterene Supiatrist" she greeted, with as polite a smirk as she could muster.  
"Armitage Hux" he responded, almost in a daze as if he could not comprehend that she genuinely wanted to have a decent working relationship with him.  
"Perhaps you would like to explain how I am detached from reality in our training session later on" he intended for his words to have a double meaning, to imply to Hux that something was occurring between the two when it absolutely was not.

Was this kriffing freak actually trying to imply they were together, in order to make the general back off? Like a Skinwolf claiming it's territory. Scowling at him, she was just about to give him a mouthful, when the audacious idiot opened his mouth again.   
"Making friends, General?" Ren mocked Hux, his modulated voice assaulting their ears

"Yes, actually. It appears so"  
  


Rolling her eyes and huffing, Vallterene was just about to walk off, when all of a sudden she felt her airways close off. Gargling noises erupted from her throat as her fingers clawed desperately at her neck as if that would help oxygen enter her lungs, as the supreme leader raised her off the ground, shaking with the effort of how hard he was strangling her.  
"Don't ever behave in that disrespectful manner again, I've warned you"   
He only released her after he had left the room, the apprentice's black robed form falling in a heap at General Hux's feet. 

She had been right, that first day. She could see her reflection in his immaculately polished boots.   
To her surprise, Armitage held out a hand for her to take. Stumbling to her feet as she gulped down oxygen desperately, Vallterene watched as what she identified as...sympathy washed across Armitage's emotionless face before his stony expression returned once again.

"He's done that to me many times. Not pleasant is it"

Hux's icy blue eyes stared down at her expectantly, waiting for her to answer. It was staring up at him here, that Vallterene realised that Armitage Hux was not emotionless at all, in fact, far from it. Hux's eyes were a torrent of raw emotion...hurt, anger, upset and sadness, so potent that she could sense his discomfort through the force.

"No, not pleasant at all"

"If I had been force-sensitive, I would've trained you myself. I have discipline, unlike Ren" he sneered at the mention of her mentor's name, before sharply collecting himself.

"Come, we have much to do before the meeting."

*********************************

General Pryde, was an old, smug and quite frankly infuriating man, who clearly thought himself above everyone on the destroyer. The way he held himself so high and mighty made Vallterene think this man clearly had forgotten that she could crush his skull with a flick of her wrist.

She was tempted to remind him.

"Oh. Ren's new pet" Pryde confirmed to himself, completely ignoring the young woman and addressing General Hux over her head.

"Erm...well for a start I am no one's 'pet' and I am here you know"

The old man grimaced at her disdainfully, expressing his disapproval.

"Well Miss Supiatrist, you certainly hold his insolence" he leered at her as her, before he abruptly turned away, marching off to what she assumed was the meeting room, around a corner from the main area of the vast technological expanse which was the bridge of the Finalizer.

"Come on, Supiatrist" Hux murmured quietly, beckoning for her to walk with him as they slowly began to move in the direction he had disappeared in, presumably towards the meeting room.

"I do not like him one bit" Vallterene declared through gritted teeth.

"No, I could tell...and for the record...neither do I" Hux agreed with her as they rounded a corner and in through a sliding grey door, entering a long room filled with uniform clad high ranking officials of the supreme council, whom were all seated around a black and silver table which was a similar length to the room. Vallterene quickly realised there was no seat for her at the table, so she chose to linger directly across the from where General Hux was sat, leaning against the wall.

A few officials regarded her with curiosity, eyes darting from their datapads to her and back again, which made Vallterene feel uneasy and like she was on display.

The supreme leader suddenly made an appearance, the door sliding up to allow him entry, the officials all standing and slightly bowing their heads politely to greet him as he walked further into the room.

"Be seated" he commanded in that stupid modulated voice that she'd quickly come to hate.

 _'I've really gotta get that stupid helmet off him'_ , Vallterene thought as he stopped at the head of the table, leaning on it with both arms outstretched. Silently, he surveyed the table which was clearly an intimidation tactic as the members began to look increasingly concerned, gulping heavily.

Eventually, his helmet covered gaze landed on Vallterene before he quickly used the force to tug her forward, making her stumble.

"Stop it, just ask me to come to you or something you don't need to use the force to pull me around like a doll" she seethed, trudging towards him with her arms crossed tightly, scowling thunderously with her eyes narrowed.

The tension in the room was thick enough to be cut with a knife as the council could not comprehend how she had had enough courage to talk to him in such a disrespectful manor.

Confirming that she shouldn't have done that, Vallterene felt herself suddenly unable to move a muscle as her windpipe was crushed.

Once again.

"I have told you one too many times to respect my authority over you. I will instill respect into you tonight at our training session, report directly to me after this meeting"

Ren snapped his head back to the table, instantly releasing his apprentice making her plummet to the ground once more. This time, she made no effort to get back up for several minutes as she laid on her back on the cold floor beside Ren, catching her breath in as dignified a way as she could muster.

Pointing to the floor, sarcasm prevalent in his voice Ren addressed the table.

"This is my mighty apprentice, Vallterene" a few chuckles rang throughout the room and Vallterene hated every kriffing second of it. How dare they laugh at her? They weren't force sensitive, she could kill them so easily...

"Get up" Ren commanded, interrupting her thoughts.

Vallterene scrambled to her feet and returned to her original position, pressing herself into the durasteel wall, half of her hoping it would swallow her. Accidentally, she made direct eye contact with Hux, who was already grimacing.


	5. Correspondence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Vallterene has a rather unpleasant run in with Kylo Ren and has her first meeting with Emperor Palpatine.

In that evening's training session, Vallterene knew that Ren was being cruel on purpose, to teach her a lesson. He knew full well she had no lightsaber training beside basic movements and yet here he was, throwing every skill and technique he knew at her.

He wanted to hurt her.

Ren spun around, twisting his body as he delivered a devastating blow which Vallterene barely managed to block above her head. Her thighs and knees burning from the awkward position she was half-squatting in, as her master's monstrous frame loomed above her. Using his fixation and her squatted position to her advantage, Vallterene quickly lifted her right foot and side stepped so she was behind him, backing away as fast as she physically could as he spun to face her once again.

He swung his crackling, scarlet saber menacingly, the glare from the weapon reflecting off of the visor of his helmet and casting an ominous red glow over his head.

Gulping, Vallterene swung her lightsaber haphazardly, in a desperate attempt to protect herself from his violent rampage.

"You do not trust that weapon" Ren stated monotonously, circling Vallterene's shaking form as she followed his movements with her humming purple saber pointed at him as he did so.

"It isn't mine" she whispered hoarsely, trying to calculate his next move.

"Oh? Well who's is it then?"

"I don't know. The emperor gave it to me to train with until I could make my own"

"Well in that case, that is next on our agenda."

Relieved thinking that Ren would relent now and end their session, she was about to extinguish the weapon when he launched himself at her, lightsaber above his head; hellbent on causing damage.

And cause damage he did.

Time seemed to slow drastically for Vallterene, as all she saw was Ren bring the tip of his lightsaber down on her left arm, deeply and seriously burning it from the top of her shoulder down to her forearm.

Vaguely, his apprentice was aware of herself emitting a blood-curdling scream as she tripped backwards, slamming onto her back, winding herself as her wound throbbed viciously. Honestly, with the strength of his blow she was genuinely surprised he hadn't completely severed her arm. 

Still, Ren didn't relent; bringing his lightsaber down again to try and get her head, to which she responded by desperately rolling over, but to her dismay Ren reacted instantly and he was stood above her again. As a last resort, she shot her hands outwards, using the force to propel him across the room as she summoned her lightsaber which had skidded along the floor when she'd fallen.

Panting both from pain and exertion she watched as Ren recovered and once more began to move towards her. Horrified, her fight or flight instincts kicked in and Vallterene decided to use flight this time.

Heart-racing, she sprinted towards the door.

"VALLTERENE! GET BACK HERE" he yelled furiously, his lightsaber shrieking as he swung it through the air savagely.

 _'Not a chance'_ , Vallterene thought as she sprinted manically out of the door, Ren in hot pursuit.

The young woman could feel her opponent attempt to use the force to stop her, but it was no use against her as she blocked it as best she could; it only slowing her down slightly. The corridor around her began to blur as she ran as fast as her legs would carry her, passing a squadron of startled stormtroopers who dodged quickly out of the way as the pair flew past them at speed.

 _'Oh maker, I don't even know where to go'_ , Vallterene thought as she panicked.

She really didn't know what was going on, she'd gathered the session would be tough after their little...altercation in front of the supreme council, but this was beyond revenge now. It had become abundantly clear the supreme leader intended to kill her to snuff out his competition. Perhaps he felt threatened.

 _'The bridge'_ , she thought logically, _'the bridge has the most people...'_

All her ideas were expelled from her mind as roughly, her head was pulled backwards by Ren who had grabbed her hair and tugged roughly.

 _Note to self, always tie your damn hair back_ , she fumed.

Instantly, she swung the violet blade up and to the side so that it was parallel with her neck to block Kylo's lightsaber which was about to decapitate her.

"You are a DAMN PSYCHO! This isn't training, you're going to kill me!"

"What a shame" he said passively, moving to swing his lightsaber again. But this time, it was Vallterene who was too fast for him.

Shooting her hand out again, she seeped into his mind and instantly numbed everything she could, sending the infamous Kylo Ren into a deep sleep, crashing to the floor in the middle of the corridor. Acting quickly, she pulled his extinguished lightsaber from the floor and clipped it on the other side of her belt across from her own.

Spinning on one foot, she pelted down the walkway as fast as she could as she decided to stick with her original plan of attempting to find the bridge. She knew from her knowledge of her own Star destroyer that one of the smaller med-bays was located on the other side of the bridge but in order to get to it, she would have to go up into the main area and down a corridor on the adjacent side...which would probably be a challenge to get through without attracting attention to herself.

The severe pain from the deep burn on her arm had completely clouded her mind, every single thought she had colliding into each other to form a jumbled mess of words and phrases in her mind. Up ahead, she could see the sleek black stairs teasing her with their presence. The two troopers guarding it stepped forward to inquire after her business, blasters at the ready.

"Medical Emergency" she gasped, rushing past them and up the stairs two at a time.

Moving her arms briskly to get up them, Vallterene almost began to retch as she caught a whiff of her own singed flesh.

Finally emerging at the top of the stairwell, she elected to try and walk leisurely in order to try and fit in. If she had gone barreling through, she was sure one of the stiff upper lipped senior officers would have something to say about it and she really could not be bothered to have a fight.

Out of nowhere, a confused lieutenant popped into her face.

"Hey can I help you..." the lieutenants eyes darted to her injured left-arm, which she was clutching with her right hand tightly as a look of instant regret crossed his face.

"Shut it" she hissed, attempting to push past him to walk further down the bridge as another wave of pain ripped through her upper body. Staggering forward sweating profusely, she continued on her journey around the bridge.

"Uhm...General!" the lieutenant shouted, just as Vallterene spotted the familiar back of General Hux, stood in his signature position with his hands clasped firmly behind his back.

The general whipped around, his eyes landing on Vallterene's disheveled form. A disturbed expression drifted over his face as he quickly frogmarched over to her, grabbing her non-injured arm.

"What happened?" he was trying his best to remain stoic but he was failing miserably, with every glance he took at her injury making him feel nauseous.

"Training he's damn insane the bastard tried to kill me to prove a point I...I need to go to the med-bay" Vallterene grumbled miserably, shaking herself out of Hux's grip.

For someone who claims to be force-sensitive and reasonably intelligent, Vallterene was annoyed at herself. Did she really think she'd be able to slip through unnoticed? 

Groaning slightly, she moved past the general before staggering to the left and having to grab onto a control panel to steady herself which she accidentally did with her left arm, sending shooting pain up her arm.

Yelping and jumping backwards, once again Hux grabbed her uninjured arm. As he did so, he couldn't help but notice that there were two lightsabers hanging from her belt, one of which he recognized as belonging to the supreme leader.

"That is Ren's lightsaber" he hissed down her ear, wondering what the hell had happened to the supreme leader for her to be able to commandeer his weapon.

"Is he...?" The General asked curiously, eyeing up the girl once again.

Surely, she wasn't more powerful than Ren? This untrained girl couldn't have killed him...could she?

"No, I uh...put him to sleep so to speak. Literally not metaphorically or anything" she assured the general, who was suddenly unable to hide his disappointment.

"Come on" he whispered venomously, tightening his grip on her arm to the point it almost hurt. Practically dragging her off down the corridor, Hux found himself glancing at the massive ravine of a burn that was the entire length of her upper arm.

If Snoke had been alive, Hux would have marched her to him straight away and demanded he take up her training instead of the pathetic Ren. Sure, he didn't know the force or the stupid weaponry, but he could teach her combat, self-control and unrivalled leadership attributes...but Snoke wasn't around and Kylo Ren was the supreme leader, whom only seemed capable of destroying control panels and force sensitive young women.

The minute they entered the med-bay, both nurses and medical droids were sent into a frenzy as Hux furiously barked orders at them. She heard the words 'lightsaber wound' thrown around repeatedly as she was taken from the general by two nurses who ushered her into a side room to begin the process of stitching her back up again.

************************

Later that night, in the safety of her chambers, Vallterene held her first correspondence with Emperor Palpatine since her arrival on the Finalizer. After waking up in the med-bay she was given lots of bacta patches and pain killers, before she was sent on her way quite quickly. She had also noticed that when she woke up, Kylo Ren's lightsaber was gone from its place on her belt. Whether Hux had taken it to return it or Ren himself had taken it, she didn't know. And the latter concerned her. The last thing she needed was a late night visit from Ren, awake and armed to murder her in her bed.

"Vallterene, I was wondering if you had forgotten your task" the sith lord's words cut like a knife, his eerie aged voice sending a chill down her spine.

"My apologies, Emperor, I intended to meet with you earlier, but the supreme leader got in the way"

"Oh? In what way?"

"Let's just say he has proven himself to be unhinged. I have been here merely more than a day and he has already tried to kill me"

"You survived" His strange words held a sort of praise.

"I did, indeed."

"And General Hux?"

"He seems pleasant, controlling and very distrusting of anyone but himself, but other than that...well he really strongly dislikes Kylo Ren and I suspect he would do anything to get rid of him. That hatred goes both ways, too" she reported honestly.

"Ahhh, indeed. General Hux is definitely an ambitious man, of no threat to you or our operation though. A possible ally for you, I hasten to add"

Vallterene considered his words carefully. Hux and Ren definitely hated each other, but it was clear that Hux was too highly respected for Ren to kill off just like that and he controlled the entire Stormtrooper programme as his father had before him. Vallterene thought back to previously, when Ren really hadn't liked herself and Hux getting along...and Hux seemed to like that Ren hated it. If she grew closer to Hux it would be a real test for Ren to endure.

"Yes, my loyal apprentice, an excellent idea" the crackling blue hologram before her had clearly read her mind and agreed, a sinister laugh escaping his dark, inhuman lips.

"And finally, the Allegiant General. What do you think of him, apprentice?"

"He is clearly useful and knowledgeable, but thinks himself above his station. He shouldn't be a threat right now, but if he uses his connections, age and past experience to influence other members of the supreme council...it could become an issue. I'll monitor the situation"

"Keep me updated, we shall talk again soon"

And with that, the hologram of the Emperor disappeared into thin air and Vallterene was left alone with her thoughts.


	6. Manipulation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylo is angry...and we are going a bit smexy up in here

"You don't like him very much, do you?" 

General Hux looked up to face Vallterene, the data pad in his hand suddenly being gripped tighter.  
Ren was off ship on some extravagantly useless mission of his, so Vallterene had been placed under the watchful eye of Hux once again.  
"Who?"  
"Ohhh, come on Huxy you know who I'm taking about"

Armitage scowled at her, though a foreign emotion rose in him at hearing a nickname. He'd never had one, no one had cared enough to give him one. He swallowed it down, replacing it with his usual reserved anger.

  
"Don't call me that"

  
Vallterene rolled her eyes and leaned further into the black chair she was sat in, in Hux's official office near the bridge.   
The room was very dark and sparsely decorated, featuring only holonet transmitters, communicators and a few datapads scattered here and there, no sign of any personal effects whatsoever.

"You haven't answered my question" she pressed, placing that datapad she was using on her lap, leaning forward on his table with her elbow on it and her hand propping her face up at her chin.  
Hux sighed and looked at her again.  
"No, I don't"  
"I know you don't, the other day when you saw I had his lightsaber you wished I'd killed him"

  
Hux swallowed.  
Hard.

  
"These are treasonous discussions, Vallterene" his tone hid something that she wasn't sure of.  
Abruptly, she rose to her feet.  
"I'm going to grab a cup of caf, want one?"  
Hux had been drinking heavy liquor since he woke up, after effects of arduous nightmares about his childhood,some caf would be amazing.  
"Yes, please"  
Hastily, she swept from the room just as the general received a notification through the holonet on his data pad.

  
'MISSION UNSUCCESSFUL - SHIP RETURN LOGGED'  
The simple sentence made Hux scowl thunderously. Of course the mission wouldn't be a success, it was being run by Ren and his useless, inefficient knights. The general resisted the urge to run a hand through his hair out of frustration, knowing it would ruin his style and not fit uniform regulations.

At just this moment, Vallterene walked back into the room holding two mugs of Caf.  
"Woah, you look stressed" she observed uncomfortably as she handed the general his mug.  
"Ren has not been successful, he is on his way back" it was clear the general was trying to keep his tone neutral, but his anger was sweeping through.  
Vallterene rolled her eyes, sitting herself back down in the chair across from him as she leant backwards, putting her feet up on the desk.

"Hardly surprising, the mission wasn't under your supervision so of course it would fail." Vallterene sighed, the off-handed compliment escaping her lips as she started into the swirling, steamy contents of her mug. At this, the General turned to face her once more.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I just mean that Ren is hardly an efficient leader unlike yourself. He dashes around with his..." Vallterene grimaced for effect, "dirty, unhygenic knights who don't appear to have one brain cell between them"

Hux did not respond, but instead stared at Vallterene completely mystified, as she lazily brought her mug to her lips and took a large gulp of the hot, caffeinated liquid it held.

All of a sudden, the young woman stood up, placing the half empty mug on the ginger's desk.

"But like you rightly said earlier, general, these are truly treasonous thoughts" With a cheeky smirk and a swish of her black robes, Vallterene had left the office; heading to the landing bay to wait for an undoubtedly infuriated Ren's arrival, leaving Hux astounded as he subconsciously stared at the faint residue of red lip gloss left on the standard issue mug that Vallterene had discarded.

************************************************

"Yes, Emperor. I have planted the idea in General Hux's mind that I am having treasonous thoughts in regards to Ren. He seems to agree, but pretends to be affronted by them presumably because he doesn't want me running off to the supreme leader and getting himself executed."

"Indeed, my apprentice, indeed. Any news on Pryde"

"None as yet"

"And Ren himself?"

"He has just returned from yet another unsuccessful mission with the knights of Ren; and has requested a training session with me which I will have to leave for in a few cycle minutes"

"Good, good. I will permit you to show him a fragment of your true strength this time, should he attempt to kill you like last time"

"Yes, Emperor"

Instantly, the hologram fizzled away and Vallterene rose to her feet; shrugging off her heavy black cloak and opting for a simple black cowl to wrap around herself on her journey to the training room where disaster had struck last time. On her way, she found herself staring down at the long scar down her arm. It had healed very well, the only sign that something had happened was the puckered pink scar tissue on her skin which presented itself in a jagged line.

All too soon, Vallterene found herself outside of the training room; sensing Kylo already inside.

Which meant he could sense her hovering at the door.

There was no going back now.

***********************

Vallterene soared across the room and slammed into the wall, before almost comically sliding down it and landing on the floor in a disheveled heap. Her nose bled slightly as she laid completely still, her ribs screaming in protest. Clearly, Ren had caused some serious internal damage, confirmed by her throbbing headache and very slightly blurred vision.

From across the training space, Vallterene could sense her master's...extremely mild concern that he had gone too far. 

But something inside of her snapped.

The Emperor had given her permission to properly harness her power today, and do that she would. The apprentice was sick of being bested by Kylo Ren, of all people, an insolent man child and so she scrambled to her feet despite her entire body screaming in protest. Limping back to the center of the room, she caught Master Ren eyeing her up and down.

"That's enough for today" he announced through the voice modulator, his deep and distorted voice sending an unpleasant chill down her bruised spine; as he moved to turn away and leave.

How dare he.

Ignoring the pain from her injuries with raw rage running through her veins, Vallterene furiously shot her arm out and used the force to pull him backwards. Ren was clearly caught off guard by her enormous strength, flying through the air before managing to rectify himself mid-air, landing with a stumble, his helmet covered head snapping up to stare at her, before he eventually straightened himself.

"How dare you use the force on me like that" even through the helmet she could tell by the intonation of his voice that she had majorly pissed him off again.

"Oh boo kriffing hoo, I really don't give a damn. You're annoying and weak" Vallterene spat venomously, eyes narrowing as she dared him to make his move.

As if they were still training, the pair began to slowly circle each other, her master's mask unnerving her all of a sudden.

Without hesitation, Vallterene leapt into action at the same time as the man opposite. She tried desperatey to pull him forward with the force and slam him down onto the floor, at the same time that he tried to pick her up and send her flying across the room again, casing the duo to slam into each other and crash to the ground together.

The impact of their bodies colliding had not been kind to Vallterene's seriously injured body, as she completely forgot battle protocol to scrunch her eyes closed and focus on not screaming from the pain. She was hunched over on her knees, braced against the floor with her eyes screwed shut when she realised she could sense a presence in unusually close proximity to her body.

Cautiously peeling one eye open, she came face to face with Master Ren's foreboding helmeted face which stared straight up at her and to her horror, she realised she was straddling him.

Gulping away her panic in an attempt to appear confident, Vallterene reviewed the situation. 

She could use this to her advantage, she skillfully thought.

Rapidly, she pinned his arms above his head, her nails digging into the plush black leather of his gloves to hold him in place, which he did not object too.

She looked down once again at his sprawled out for beneath her. 

She could grab the lightsaber from his belt and easily murder him, which she was sure he new found ginger friend would like...or she could roll her hips backwards ever so slightly and....

It was then that she realised Kylo was in her head and would most definitely have heard her ideas, but to her shock, he made no attempt to move or dislodge her.

Vallterene quirked an eyebrow curiously, surprised by his behaviour as she placed a hand casually on his chest to find his heart rate to be through the roof, as she heard his breathing grow heavier through the mask.

Several crimson droplets of blood fell from her nose and landed on his mask, some on his visor and some on the silver detailing, giving them a red metallic sheen.

He was blatantly enjoying this.

Usually, Ren had a tight mental block in place permanently to prevent her from entering his mind like she had in their first session, but today, it was cracking, and she slipped right inside. She saw herself straddling him and felt his desperation to be touched, his loneliness, his want and his need,

She also then realised he wanted her to take off his helmet, despite his refusal the other night cycle.

Abruptly, Vallterene slammed up her strongest mental block. He probably wanted her to kiss him, so he could see if he could still feel, she remarked playfully to herself in the safety of her own mind.

Or was it that she herself simply wanted to reveal his identity and kiss him? She wasn't entirely sure.

Vallterene cocked her head to the side, as if weighing up what to do.

Boldly, she ran a cautious finger down the side of his helmet, as if she was caressing his face lovingly, noting that he tilted his head backwards ever so slightly to give her more access. Yes, Kylo was definitely enjoying this to some degree whilst also being tortured by the lack of direct skin to skin contact.

Tantalizingly, Vallterene removed both of her hands from his wrists and placed her bare thumbs exactly over the lock releases of his helmet, half tempted to press them and reveal him, but she stopped herself.

She wanted to see him so badly, but that is what he wanted and she absolutely would not let him have it.

Agonisingly slowly, with her thumbs still on the locks, Vallterene leaned down and planted a soft kiss on the cold helmet, right over where his mouth is. Whilst doing so, she thought she heard something escape him akin to a whine of frustration, but that could easily of been her own mind playing tricks on her.

Abruptly, Vallterene stood up and stepped over him, before she began to stroll towards the door. It slid open, and before exiting, she turned back to look at the Supreme leader, who had now sat up and was staring at her, his face unable to be read because of its covering.

With a victorious smirk, she left the room, hair swishing behind her.


	7. Unwelcome guests

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ren disappears (again), and Vallterene and Hux have some visitors

Vallterene Supiatrist was bored.

Brain-numbingly, impossibly bored.

As per usual, the Supreme Leader had disappeared off to some remote planet in the outer rim to look for something, presumably the scavenger girl, leaving his apprentice alone on the Finalizer. There was absolutely nothing for her to do, she couldn't even cultivate her relationship with Hux because the Allegiant General made sure he was 100% busy 100% of the time.

In fact, it happened to be the Allegiant General who was the subject of her correspondence with the emperor that day.

“Pryde appears to be using his network of younger officers to do his work, because of his credentials.”

Vallterene was speaking honestly, and the Emperor knew it. He kept Pryde around in a high position because he was a faithful leader, not because he was particularly good at his job. In fact, it appeared that Pryde was better at getting other people to do his job whilst he stood on the bridge, clutching his swaggerstick, barking orders.

“Is this referring to your General?”

These days, the Emperor had been referring to Hux as if he was Vallterene’s pet, an insignificant pawn in their game. However, over the past few days after constantly harassing the general she had formed a somewhat different opinion of him. At first, she had thought he was just another imbecile she would have to deal with on her never-ending journey to the top; but she was now actually starting to see him as a valuable asset. General Hux was smart, ridiculously so, and he knew the stormtrooper programme and the First Order’s fleet like no other.

But, with slight reluctance, Vallterene admitted that there was something in his past that was hindering his abilities, possibly a fear of something. Quite easily, she could’ve delved into his mind for the answer; but Hux seemed to know whenever Ren had invaded his mind and she did not want to risk damaging their almost pathetically fragile working relationship.

“And how is the situation with the General?”

"Busy. I need Hux closer to me, after all he heads the stormtrooper programme" Vallterene pondered out loud, as she mulled over what to do in her head.

"And you say your general previously said he would've trained you himself, should he have been force sensitive?"

  
"Yes, Emperor"

  
"Well then, tell him that I directly instruct him to take over your training"  
Vallterene's head snapped up from her respectful downward position, shocked at the emperors proposition, her black hair with its contrasting silver streak tumbling out of her hooded black robe.  
"Ren will still teach you the ways of the force, but I will allow the general to show you whatever he thinks he can teach you, though I doubt it will be much" a wry, gargling laugh escaping the old man’s shrivelled mouth.  
Vallterene nodded slowly in response.  
"Yes, Emperor"  
"Is he infatuated with you? Ren?"   
The question caught her off guard, a deep and disbelieving laugh escaping her throat against her will; before panic swiftly gripped her. Vallterene was very aware that the emperor was able to see inside of her mind with ease, as well as he could probably gain access to Ren’s as well.

Had he seen the little…altercation that occurred in the training room the other night?

She didn’t know…but it was seeming likely.  
"No, not at all. This is more about his own petulant personal rivalry with the general, which I can use to manipulate him"   
Abruptly, Vallterene felt her airways close off tightly. Her eyes widened, showing almost the entirety of the milky sclera which lined her blue-grey eyes.  
"Make sure that is all it is. Seduction is allowed. Lust is allowed. Love and Passion are NOT" the emperors tone had completely changed, to be furious and guttural as growled his warning, releasing her just as quickly as he had begun strangling her.

Okay, now Vallterene was certain he knew of the training room escapade. The veiled warning about Hux was actually about not only the General, but the Supreme Leader too.

With that, the hologram fizzled away.

She really needed to be more careful from now on.  
*****************  
"Unfortunately, Pryde..."

  
"It is Allegiant General Pryde, to you" The older man spat with a sneer, turning his nose up at Vallterene once again, both literally and metaphorically.

  
"No. No it isn't, Pryde" Vallterene spat right back at him, as equally as venomously.  
The shrivelled man before all but recoiled in horror from the tone in which Vallterene was speaking to him, clearly astounded that anyone would dare to speak to him like that.

  
"As I was saying, unfortunately I'm going to have to steal General Hux from you"  
The ginger turned to stare at her, suddenly interested in what she had to say. Before her arrival, it appeared the Allegiant General had been abusing his power once again, laying into Hux about failures in a new shipment of prototype Tie fighters, or something along those lines.  
"No y..." Pryde started trying to refute what she was saying.

  
"Direct orders from the emperor, sadly" Vallterene said with mock sympathy, before beckoning for Hux to follow her.

The pair walked in silence, until they reached Hux’s sparsely decorated office.

“You didn’t need to come and rescue me, I can handle Pryde” This time it was Hux’s turn to be venomous, speaking coldy to Vallterene, who simply grinned as she crossed her arms and turned to face him, leaning on his desk.

“As much as I’d love to say I cared about you that much, Huxy” , Hux grumbled at the sound of his mocking nickname, “I genuinely have orders from Emperor Palpatine to speak to you”

Uncharacteristically, the General furrowed his brow in shock as he adjusted his black leather gloves.

“It appears he is just as enamoured with Ren as we are”

Hux’s left eyebrow twitched slightly, before he masked his shock with his usual stoic, cold expression.

“He wants us…to…” Hux whispered, barely able to contain his excitement to use his ordinary harsh tone.

“General Hux!” Vallterene gasped quietly, overdramatically feigning surprise as she batted her eyelashes at him slightly as if he had made a rude or vulgar comment, which made the General loose his composure as an almost imperceptible blush creeped up his pale cheeks. “Treasonous thoughts don’t get me excited now” Vallterene mock scolded him, with a small smile.

“Get to the point” Hux barked roughly, moving past her to take his position behind the desk in his black and grey seat. Taking this as a sign to get comfortable, Vallterene pushed away from the desk and plopped down into the opposite chair, propping her legs up on the table; much to Hux’s disdain.

“He wants you to take up my studies instead of Ren, obviously that buffoon would have to continue teaching me the ways of the force, but he has recognised your admirable qualities such as your leadership skills and work with the stormtrooper programme, and he’d like you to teach me everything you know”

Vallterene would give anything to see the expression that washed over Hux’s face again. Firstly, his eyes widened like saucers on his face, before a smug and proud expression clouded over his features. Probably at a combination of taking away some of Ren’s power, and being trusted by the Emperor enough to train his prized apprentice.

“Unless of course, you aren’t up to the task” Vallterene teased, keeping her face as stoic as possible in order to make him think she was being serious.

“No I am, please thank him on my behalf”

Abruptly, Vallterene’s head whipped to the side as she mentally scanned the Finalizer using the force.

“When did Ren get back?”

“He hasn’t” Hux responded, confused as to why Vallterene was suddenly acting strange.

Slowly, she turned to face Hux again.

“Then whose force signature am I sensing?”

The General and The apprentice stared at each other in confusion, before a blast rocked the ship; and the screeching sounds of X-Wing engines reverberated around the star destroyer, as they flew past.

The Allegiant General practically threw himself through the door of Hux’s office, to stare expectantly at Vallterene.

Oh great, she was in charge.

“Okay. Lock down the ship, get every hangar locked and put shields on maximum. The rebel fleet is a distraction because the Scavenger and no doubt her scummy friends are on board.”

“On board?! How are they on board!” Pryde roared in disbelief, turning to Hux for answers.

“No, Allegiant General, do not look at Hux, this is your fault and I will make sure I express this to the Emperor in my report. If the X-wings manage to do damage, then you can briefly unlock Hangar A-1 to scramble the elite pilots, do you understand” The two men nodded, as Pryde left the office and began to bark orders.

“Hux, call Ren back now and tell him I said he is a kriffing nuisance and a waste of our kriffing resources because his stupid scavenger girlfriend is on board and I am the one having to hunt her down” Vallterene yelled, ever so slightly intimidating the General despite being on the receiving end of much worse from the Supreme Leader.

As Hux turned to log onto the data-comms to track down Ren, Vallterene threw off the heavy black cloak and Robe she was wearing to be left in her simple black sith robes; before tying her black and silver hair up tightly so that she didn’t accidentally fry it off with the lightsaber, which wasn’t even really her own.

Note to self, find yourself a kriffing kyber crystal and build a damn saber, she thought to herself.

Unclipping the sleek weapon from her black leather, silver chain edged belt, Vallterene quickly exited the office, following the scavenger’s force signature.


	8. First impressions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Vallterene has her first encounter with Rey, and has a...steamy encounter with a certain supreme leader.

The scavenger was pretty, in a kind of rugged peasant way.

Her brown hair was pulled up into three buns at the back of her head, and a scuffed old staff hung over her shoulder despite there being a much deadlier weapon hanging from her brown leather belt, which secured old sandy coloured robes to her skinny frame.  
Her form contrasted severely to Vallterene's, who leaned in the doorway, observing her silently. Vallterene was clearly taller, with a more athletic build than the somewhat scrawny young Jedi, who was crouched on the floor a few feet away; rummaging through a mechanics panel in the shield command room on board the Finalizer. She was clearly looking to disable them, but was failing miserably.  
Little did Rey know, her accomplices had already been captured and imprisoned by a stormtrooper squadron deep in the depths of the ship.  
Vallterene pursed her lips and her black eyebrows furrowed, as she continued to stare down at the scavenger.   
How had she not sensed her presence?  
She was clearly untrained, naturally strong but untrained nonetheless.  
"Aren't you going to say hello?"   
Startled, the scavenger flew back from the mechanics she had been fiddling with; to stare up in a horror at Vallterene.  
Slowly, Rey scanned the sith's face, taking in her flawless complexion and high, angular cheek bones as well as her eerie blue-grey eyes which had been framed ever so slightly by black makeup.  
"I hope you weren't trying to disable our shields, after all you're rummaging in the wrong panel"   
"Who are you?" Rey interrupted, scrambling to her feet.  
"Me? I'm Vallterene. Vallterene Supiatrist. Apprentice to Emperor Palpatine and Supreme Leader Kylo Ren" Vallterene parted with the precious information somewhat lazily, not seeming to care about the Jedi opposite her.   
Rey, however, was now panicking.  
She had barely gotten through her fights with Kylo Ren without being skewered, she didn't fancy dying today.  
"I don't want any trouble, I just ne..."  
"You don't want any trouble, and yet here you are"  
Rey gulped, as Vallterene's hand flew to her belt to unclasp the lightsaber and ignite it, prompting the scavenger to do the same.  
The respective blades hummed and hissed violently as the two young women faced each other, and right from the start, it was clear Vallterene was the far superior and more aggressive fighter.  
And no one was more surprised than the apprentice herself.  
Their fight was swift, urgent and messy, as Rey was only just successful at blocking Vallterene's merciless blows. The scavenger was forced backwards consistently, out of the door to the shield control room and then out onto the main walkway; with its steep drop down the centre on the left.  
Vaguely, Vallterene could sense another strong and dark force signature enter the ship, which was definitely the Supreme Leader returning, but she couldn't concentrate on him right now.  
  


Recklessly, Rey swung her blue lightsaber to the left aiming very obviously for her opponents head, but she failed miserably as she didn't anticipate Vallterene's next move.   
Ducking, Vallterene shifted her stance and with all of her strength, she viciously booted Rey's unprotected legs out from underneath her. As the scavenger fell, Vallterene threateningly swiped at her with her own lightsaber; catching the back of Rey's left arm. Rey emitted a blood curdling scream, the burn clearly being very deep and serious, but the blow wasn't strong enough to have completely severed her arm.  
Which Vallterene honestly regretted.

"You've done well, my apprentice" that all too familiar modulated voice spoke up from behind her. Despite her Master's presence instantly annoying her, Vallterene would be lying if she said the praise didn't mean a lot to her.  
"Go and prepare for our training session"  
Vallterene looked back down at the injured scavenger.  
"But what about-"  
"I am quite capable of escorting the scavenger to her cell, now go and prepare"  
Vallterene almost slapped herself right there in front of them both.   
Had she really missed the supreme leader that much, that his cold and modulated demands were...attractive?  
"Control your thoughts"  
Vallterene's eyes widened, as she abruptly turned to leave, embarrassed that Kylo had heard that.   
No doubt the son of a bitch would let that stroke his phenomenally large ego.

She wished it was something else that was phenomenally large that she was stroking, not just his ego.  
*************  
When Ren had told her to prepare for a training session, Vallterene had expected him to go easy on her because of her actions earlier with his scavenger girlfriend.   
She even anticipated more praise!  
What she didn't anticipate was for her supposed master to stride right up to her and slap her so hard that she saw stars and got whiplash.  
Laying on the slightly cushioned floor of the training space, clutching her jaw, Vallterene slowly turned to look up at her mentor.

"What the stars was that for?" She groaned, blinking rapidly to try and clear her blurred vision.

"You are a stupid, insolent little girl!" He roared, disgust lacing his tone.

"You say the sweetest things" Vallterene muttered sarcastically, as she moved to her feet once more.

"Going to fight the scavenger when your can barely swing that saver without charring your own tunic" he scoffed, circling his dazed pupil.

"Would you have preferred it if I hadn't intervened and she took down our shields, letting the rebels bomb the kriff out of us"   
The masked figure didn't respond, instead he chose to continue walking around her in palpable silence.

After what felt like a lifetime, Ren stopped and turned to face her.

"Today you are going to learn how to properly use a lightsaber" his voice was draped in that scary, guarded calm tone again, which signified his extreme anger.  
She was really in for it this time.  
**************  
By this point, both the Supreme Leader and his apprentice were reasonably tired, slightly sweaty and breathing heavily.

Vallterene swung her lightsaber upwards, which her master blocked last minute as he tried to force her downwards, just as she swung herself to the left to release both her and her lightsaber from in order to try and attack him again from a different position.

Furiously, they swung their respective blood red and violet sabers through the air, which crackled and hissed furiously, when they crashed into one another.   
It was very clear this fight had become more than a simple training spar, and was now personal. 

Again.

Vallterene wheeled around again to chop downwards with the glowing purple weapon she wielded viciously, just as Kylo swung to the side, hitting her saber head on. Losing her footing, Vallterene stumbled to the side towards Ren, who then promptly grabbed the young woman in a bloodthirsty choke hold, the crook of his muscular elbow enclosed around her neck, pressing her back to his chest forcefully.

He brought his saber around so it too was against her neck, the heat emanating from it causing her to pant desperately, her eyes widening in fright. Ren then placed his ignited saber in the same hand of the arm he was choking her with.

To her shock, Vallterene heard the hissing noise of his helmet locks releasing from behind her, before it flew over her head, slamming to the ground and rolling away a few feet from where they stood, intertwined. Frozen to the spot, she gulped, Ren's lightsaber inching closer and closer to her neck, as her own lightsaber buzzed in her hand. 

"How are you going to get out of this one, Vallterene?" His voice was deep and surprising sensual, slicing through the air like his saber was moments before. His warm breath danced on the back of her neck, making shiver rumble through her as she remained firmly clamped against him.

Quickly, she moved to spin around and knock him backwards, but his left leg shot out, wedging the girl between him and his lightsaber. Reluctantly, she looked up and her breath caught in her throat.  
The man that looked down at her was quite possibly the most breath taking human she'd ever laid her eyes upon. His pale, angular face was accompanied by long black hair which fell messily around his head like a disgruntled lions mane. Vallterene hadn't realised that she had been staring until all of a sudden, she felt the force push her even impossibly closer into him, his other leather gloved hand flying to the small of her back as he dived down, his mouth suddenly devouring hers, despite his lightsaber still crackling down her ear until he moved it down a few seconds into their kiss.

The kiss was hot, passionate and Vallterene against her better judgement found herself kissing him back. Absentmindedly, she used the force to extinguish her weapon and reattach it to her belt so she could reach up and wrap both of her arms around his neck, Ren ducking slightly so she could do so. A muffled moan escaped his lips as she tangled her fingers in his hair, as somehow, one of the fingers of the hand that still held his own ignited lightsaber was drawing circles on her hip, which eventually brought her to her senses. 

Vallterene flung herself backwards using the force, much to the Supreme Leader's surprise and disappointment. She lay completely still for a few seconds, on her back panting, before she heard a low groan of pain from across the room.

Cautiously looking over, she realised that as she had thrown herself away from her master, his lightsaber had been pushed against his torso and had sliced the middle of his torso, below his pectoral muscles.

Panicking, Vallterene jumped to her feet and scrambled towards him. The burn appeared to be quite bad, and would definitely need medical attention. It seemed to be very similar in depth and width to the injury that Kylo had given her during their first session.

Ironic.

Gently, the young woman dropped to her knees beside him to properly look at the wound. She was just about to suggest a trip to the med bay, when abruptly Kylo swung into action again and it appeared that he wasn't as seriously injured as he had led her to believe.  
Roughly, he lunged at his apprentice, knocking her backwards with a tiny squeal she involuntarily emitted .  
This time, he was on top.  
Both of her hands were pinned above her head by only one of his, his other hand coming up to push her silver streak of hair back off her face. Staring up at him like this, Vallterene noticed that he actually had a jagged scar running across his face which by the way it had healed was clearly a burn...lightsaber.

"How did you get that scar?" the raven-haired young woman panted, head tilted slightly.

"Did your girlfriend give it to you?" she mocked breathlessly.

Ren didn't reply, but instead tightened his grip on her wrists as he appeared to be inspecting every inch of her face.

His hazel eyes flickered down to her lips, before moving back to make eye contact with her once more.

Slowly, as if unsure, Ren found himself leaning down again, planting a shockingly soft kiss on Vallterene's lips before jerking himself back upwards as if realising what he had done. Releasing Vallterene's wrists, he planted his large hands on either side of her head making sure not to trap any of her hair in the process. A stray strand of his dark hair had come loose, so carefully, Vallterene reached up to tuck it back into place as she lay beneath him.

"Training is over for today...you did well, my apprentice" Ren announced, barely above a whisper with a hoarse voice.

Vallterene moved to respond, but couldn't bring herself to as Ren stood up, with a grimace because of his wound.

"Are you going to go to the Med bay?" Vallterene asked, moving to a sitting position as he stepped away from her.

"No, an injury caused by my apprentice? Hux would love that"

At the mention of the ginger general, Ren's apprentice felt herself feel a tiny bit guilty. She almost felt as if she had..betrayed him by kissing her master. After all, their collective hatred for Ren was what had brought them so close together.

"So...what're you going to do about it?"

"I don't know" he said dismissively, turning away to retrieve his helmet and clip his lightsaber back to his belt after it had fallen to the ground during their shenanigans.

"Do you want me to help you?" the man before her abruptly froze, before gently turning back to face her. The vulnerable, almost unguarded expression had returned to his face which he had had before when he was pinning her down, as if he was scrutinizing her.

"Well...it's just on Exegol i had lots of practice bandaging myself up from lightsaber wounds" Vallterene laughed uncomfortably, in way of explaining why she offered.

Ren did not reply, but instead pulled his helmet on.

Eventually, he turned to her again.

"Okay" the modulated voice confirmed, as Vallterene pulled herself upwards onto her feet.

Following his retreating back towards the door, Vallterene gulped. She was getting herself in way over her head here and she also knew she would have to do some major mental training to prevent the emperor from seeing this absolute kriff-show when they had their next correspondence.

The only way that Vallterene could see herself getting out of this one, was if she convinced the Emperor that it was an elaborate ploy to get Ren to trust her before she broke him...but she knew deep inside that wasn't the case at all.

Oh stars, she was in trouble. 


	9. Medical attention

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Vallterene tends to Kylo's wounds, and formulates her plan with the emperor.

The Supreme Leader's quarters were remarkably cold, and didn't even look as if anyone had been living there, let alone a 6ft+ sith lord.

Vallterene followed her black-robed master through the extensive expanse of his chambers, through to his refresher. Carelessly, he unlocked his helmet and dropped it to the floor, surprised when his apprentice used the force to prevent it hitting the floor and summoned it to her instead.

"You really should be more careful with this thing, if you keep throwing it around like that, it'll eventually get dented and you will end up walking around looking stupid...it's hard to look intimidating with a massive dent in your face" Vallterene grumbled with a smirk, Ren watching on incredulously as she slowly slid the helmet onto the top of a cabinet in the Refresher, next to his sink.

Passing her the Med pack he kept in there, the pair then moved to his main living quarters, where he leaned against a cupboard nonchalantly as Vallterene opened the kit.

"Well...go on...take your tunic off"

"What?"

"To get to the wound? I can't treat it with you fully clothed" Vallterene said quietly, respectfully turning away from him to fiddle with the medical supplies as she heard him begin to undress. Abruptly, Ren slammed his heavy belt and lightsaber down on the table before her making her jump.

He was doing this on purpose.

Firstly, Vallterene decided to grab the small disinfectant spray and disinfectant pads, before turning back to Ren.

Kriff.

She came face to face with Ren's exquisitely toned body and broad bare shoulders, his muscular body shocking her. 

"Control your thoughts, apprentice. I don't want to have to tell you again"

Vallterene's eyebrows shot up, concerned that she had let her guard down so spectacularly again. His words told one story, but his tone of voice said something else.

Playfully, she quirked an eyebrow.

"Don't flatter yourself, master" she responded, noticing the way his jaw clenched as she did so.

Ignoring him, she gently sprayed the disinfectant onto his wound making him hiss and clench in pain, shaking angrily. Equally as delicately, she began to wipe the area, clearing the blood and fibers from his clothing that had stuck to it earlier. Her initial analysis of the injury had been incorrect, it was nowhere near as deep or as serious as hers, in fact he was remarkably lucky as it appeared his lightsaber had barely grazed him, so he wouldn't be left with much of a scar.

"I thought i'd have to clean you up and call a medical droid regardless to stitch you up, but it actually doesn't seem that deep at all. You should be good with some bacta patches and a compression bandage to keep them in place," Vallterene explained absentmindedly, as she rummaged in the med-pack once again. "Oh look, here's a black compression bandage, it'll match your clothes" She attempted to lightheartedly joke, to no reaction from Ren who still appeared to be analyzing her as she began to peel some fresh bacta pads and apply them to his chest. 

Satisfied that they were secured correctly, she then began to unwrap the black bandage and with a well disguised grin, leaned unnecesarily forward in order to wrap it tightly around his chest; making sure that her hair and occasionally the side of her face, rubbed against his bare chest.

After hearing a shakey breath erupt from him, Vallterene resisted the urge to grin and instead speedily pulled away; turning to leave.

"I'll see you for training tomorrow" she said politely, as she strolled lazily towards the exit.

"Vallterene" Ren's true voice rang out from behind her, sending a delicious chill through her body which she managed to disguise well. Coming to a halt, she carelessly looked over her shoulder back at him.

Was he gonna ask her to stay?

She could only imagine.

"Do I need to change these bandages?"

No. Of course he wouldn't ask her to stay.

"Yeah, I'll change them before training tomorrow if you'd like"

The Supreme Leader nodded in response, his face stoic as ever.

With a playful, over exaggerated air salute, Vallterene slipped out of Ren's quarters through the sliding door, and into the corridor outside.

**********************************************

"I see you got to know Ren better in your training session" The emperor announced, accompanied by his trademark gnarled grin.

Well, that didn't last kriffing long.

Time for plan B.

"Yes. I can sense some vulnerability in him, which I think I can manipulate."

"I see" the Emperor observed, the revolting grin not leaving his face.

Pervert.

"Do you plan to bed him and then kill him at his most vulnerable?"

The crude question caught Vallterene off guard, but it wasn't the section about...'bedding him' as the emperor put it, it was the part about murdering Ren which disconcerted her.

"Kill him?"

"Well you can't let him live" the Emperor snapped, the grin suddenly disappearing.

"Yes, Yes I know, I know. The answer is yes, I will kill him at his most vulnerable"

The sickly grin returned to his shrivelled, ancient face.

"Good, Good. How long is that going take?" the impatience was evident in his voice, eager to have Ren out of the way in order to secure Vallterene's control over the first order which would consolidate his own control over the organisation.

"I am definitely not there yet. I need him to trust me completely so his guard will be down, I may be strong but I don't think I could genuinely take him down as we are now, he is unhinged but he is powerful. Plus, I don't want to turn on him and try to kill him, only to fail and for him to flee to the light where he would be united with the scavenger" Vallterene grumbled, thinking out loud to the emperor.

"Time is of the essence, Vallterene, don't you forget that"

"Yes, Emperor."

"Manipulate his emotions" 

"Yes, Emperor. I will use Hux to my advantage"

Once again, the blue hologram fizzled out, and Vallterene was alone in her darkened quarters. General Hux had always been decent to her, but his ridiculously stoic personality and dark hidden secrets were going to pose a problem. Chewing on her lip subconsciously, Vallterene began to properly formulate her plan of action. If she could properly coerce Hux into falling for her, she could use Ren's hatred of him to further manipulate the situation.

After all, if Ren didn't even really like her, if Vallterene started showing requited interest in Hux, it should prompt Ren to want to chase after her...right?

Kriffing hell, not only was Vallterene going to have to get Kylo Ren to fall in love with her, she was also going to have to make Armitage Hux fall in love with her too...or at least lust after her. 

And she had Ren's damned scavenger girlfriend to deal with too.


	10. Naughty dreams and Ginger Generals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Vallterene drastically improves her relationship with a certain General....

It wasn't often that Vallterene found herself lurking in the quarters of high ranking officials, but tonight was the exception.

A special occasion, if you will.

She had decided that because Hux was so surprisingly aware of the force, for a non-force sensitive individual, she wouldn't be able to directly influence him or jump into his head as she would anyone else.

No, this situation had to be handled very delicately, with gentle interference only.

Which is why she found herself stood in the shadows in the far corner of Hux's bed chamber, in his private General's quarters. Liquor bottles had littered the place, which surprised Vallterene and meant that the ginger General had to drink hard alcohol in order to sleep...which suggested night terrors.

But what about?

Vallterene scolded herself sternly.

Curiosity killed the loth cat.

She wasn't here to find out about the General's past to satisfy her own curiosity, she was here working for the Emperor. And work she did.

Vallterene had decided that the most gentle, but effective way to manipulate the General would be to implant certain...lurid situations and scenarios into Hux's dreams; and ensure they were memorable. As an ordinary, non force sensitive human; slumber would be his most vulnerable state and he would simply not be able to protect his mind.

He would also be unconscious, meaning he wouldn't know what she was up to. 

Slowly, as to not make a sound, Vallterene shuffled forwards to get closer to the sleeping man. His red hair was tousled, and seemed to make him even more attractive than it did when it was styled to regulation. Hux's pale face was flushed from the liquor, adding a rosy hue to his cheeks.

He looked phenomenal.

Before formulating the intense sexual dream she was going to thrust into the General's mind, out of interest she decided to see what he was already dreaming about...probably data pads and stormtrooper regiments knowing him.

With a flick of her wrist, she was inside his mind and it was then, that she was shocked.

It appeared, she didn't need to do anything at all.

Vallterene saw herself and Hux in all kinds of compromising positions.

Her on her back on the long meeting table of the Supreme Council while he furiously pounded into her, them kissing and cuddling and having sex in just about every single area on the ship, predominantly his quarters. It seemed that the General enjoyed being able to dominate her, someone who is force-sensitive and could literally crush him like a bug in seconds. He also liked that she sometimes took the lead, too.

Vallterene's particular favourites involved them doing it whilst Kylo Ren watched on, tied up and furious at what they were doing,powerless to stop it, in addition to his fantasy of her riding the General on what she assumed to be Snoke's throne as she referred to him as the supreme leader.

Yes, he definitely enjoyed being powerful.

Power got him off.

What Vallterene also realised from the cacophony of fantasies whirring around the ginger's head, was he would really, really like to see her and screw her whilst she wore a first order uniform.

Looks like on her way back, she would be picking up a uniform of some kind.

Vallterene also gathered, that for some reason unbeknownst to her, Hux's feelings seemed to go beyond pure lust. She also saw that he was dreaming about kissing, hugging and cuddling her in bed; teasing each other playfully.

Hux was lonely.

What she saw were two completely different people in their bodies, living a life neither of them could have.

Vallterene frowned.

This wasn't what she expected at all. It was clear that in the short time they had known each other, that Hux had become extremely emotionally attached to her and actually...she to him.

Though, not exactly in the same way.

Things were about to get very interesting.

*********************************

The meeting of the supreme council was scheduled for the following morning, to Vallterene's dismay. But she soon saw this as an opportunity to implement her latest plan.

After the events in Hux's quarters last night, on her way back to her own quarters she had picked up an Allegiant General's uniform from the tailor trooper's station. Granted, it was a little big, but it was barely noticeable when she tightened her belt around the tunic. Vallterene ensured her entire uniform was immaculate, so not even Hux himself would be able to find issue with it. The only thing she did differently, was she didn't tie her hair up in regulation fashion. Instead, she brushed it out and left it down just as it was in the General's fantasy.

Perhaps he enjoyed the slightly rebellious aspect of it.

Another slightly devious act that Vallterene had committed, was that she ensured every single member of the council was aware that the meeting was scheduled half a standard hour later than the original time, apart from the General; so she could be alone with him.

Perhaps she would lie on the table as she had been in his dream, to provoke him to remember. Now that, would be exciting.

*************

Slipping into the familiar darkened room, Vallterene turned the lighting panels of the room on with a wave of her hand. One by one, they snapped into life as she made her way towards the table, deciding on what to do.

Running an inquisitive finger across its glossy surface, she decided to go with her original plan.

Striding to the very end,in her shiny new officer's long boots, she pulled herself up onto the table before promptly lying on her back with her long legs parted ever so slightly. Surprisingly, she actually found the cool surface to be comfortable and almost found herself slipping into a light sleep. After all, she hadn't gotten much rest after her late night-cycle shenanigans creeping around through the belly of the ship.

However, a shaky breath soon extinguished her fatigue.

**************

When Armitage Hux walked into that meeting room, to find Vallterene practically spread-eagled on the table just as in his dream, all of his breath forced its way out of his lungs and he was left standing in the entrance to the room, with his back against the door which had slid shut behind him.

After hearing him enter, Vallterene's head snapped to the side to stare at him.

"Hello General" Vallterene greeted politely, as she propped herself up on one elbow to properly take in the appearance of the startled man.

It was then that he noticed her attire, a first order Allegiant General's uniform.

Slowly, Hux moved towards her to stand directly in front of her. If he wanted to, with one stride he could be stood between her legs; bracing himself over her.

Maker, he throbbed in his pants at the thought.

Clearing his throat, Hux decide to speak.

"Pryde is going to kill you"

Vallterene let out a quiet, amused laugh.

"I'd like to see him try. I just thought it would...grind his gears to see me dressed like this" Her words conveyed a different meaning, and she knew they did.

Hux managed to compose himself, when Vallterene slipped off the edge of the table to stand in front of him.

All he could think about was how they were almost touching.

"Where is everyone?"

"It appears we are half a standard hour early. They changed the time and didn't bother to tell us" Vallterene lied perfectly, with an irritated tone to further the story.

The General nodded, as the young woman side stepped to the left back towards the door.

"Well...I was going to go to the hangar to watch the TIE squadrons take off for their morning drills, if you want to come with me"

"Yes, alright" Hux answered immediately, as he regretted how eager he sounded.

"I mean...yes that would be quite satisfactory"

Vallterene smiled at the flustered General before she led the way out of the meeting room...or at least tried to.

The automatic sliding door failed to open, causing Vallterene to almost walk into it.

Cautiously, she nudged it with her knee, before looking up at Hux in confusion; whose mid-arm was snugly resting against her shoulder. His ginger eyebrows furrowed, before he too returned her confused gaze.

"What's going on?" Hux asked, as Vallterene shrugged.

She genuinely hadn't planned this, to be trapped with the General and was mystified to how it happened. But after all, there were worse situations to be in.

"Uh...hello?" Vallterene hollered through the comm system located in the control panel next to the door.

"Hello" a concerned engineer responded.

"Myself and General Hux appear to be trapped, can you open the door?"

"About that...yesterday The Supreme Leader destroyed the door mechanism in a...burst of anger...and it appears it hasn't been fully mended"

Vallterene was frustrated, but decided to play this situation to her advantage. Usually, she may been tempted to use the force to throw the door open, or even to use her lightsaber to cut a hole into it. But, these are examples of Ren-esque behaviors which Hux wouldn't approve of.

So, Vallterene decided to calm down and play it cool; so to speak.

"Alright, how long will it take to fully fix?" She asked, politely with a stern edge.

"We estimate about 20-30 standard minutes"

"Oh! Okay that's fine, right?" She turned to the man beside her, who nodded brusquely.

"Get to work"

"Right away"

*************

It had been around 20 standard minutes since the door sealed them in.

Vallterene and Hux were sat side by side on the table, staring outside the destroyer through the large window; at the swirling blue vortex which signified they were at light-speed. All of a sudden, the destroyer lurched forwards imperceptibly and outer space appeared again, signifying that they had dropped from hyperspace. 

"I'll never get used to that" Vallterene whispered in awe, staring at the breath taking stars and distant planets through the glass.

"To what?" Hux asked as he stared at her, his voice equally as low.

"Everything" Vallterene said seriously with a small smile, as she gestured to the window lazily.

"I didn't get off Exegol much" she laughed, before sighing.

"It's beautiful" she addded, with a content smirk; before she leaned back on her her left arm which took her slightly closer to Hux beside her.

"As are you" Hux stated gently and honestly, to Vallterene's surprise. She didn't think he'd be so direct.

The General, on the other hand, was panicking internally. He couldn't believe he had said that to her, she could literally snap his neck in five standard seconds.

And he sort of liked that.

But she didn't. Instead, her eyebrows shot up in surprise as she blinked rapidly.

"No one has ever said that to me before" Vallterene responded honestly, flattered that he would compliment her so earnestly.

"Well, I find that hard to believe"

To say Vallterene was shocked, would be an understatement. She watched as the General slowly became confident with himself and his advances towards her; it was interesting her greatly. He no longer appeared to tred on eggshells around her as he did with Ren in fact, she'd go as far as to say that Hux had...come out of his shell.

Tentatively, Hux reached out with a leather-gloved hand and played with a silver strand of her hair which had slipped out from behind her ear. 

"You know...,"he began, twirling the strand around one of his fingers before tugging gently, "This isn't regulation"

A playful, signature smug smirk tugging at the corner of his pale lips.

"Oh?" Vallterene grinned back, leaning ever closer to the general. He could feel her breath dancing on his cheek as she leaned to whisper in his ear, 

"You'll have to reprimand me then, sir"

At this, Hux's heart rate sky rocketed. Oh maker, what was she doing to him.

She leaned backwards slightly, so Hux could see her face fully once more, as she stared up at him through her lashes. General Hux slowly, ever so slowly, tucked the hair back behind her ear before gently cupping her face, the leather of his black gloves cool against her burning skin.

However, all good things must come to an end.

Abruptly, the door mechanism made an unlocking sound as the door began to slide up. Vallterene could already sense Ren outside it, impatiently waiting to come in. With her enhanced reflexes, Vallterene grabbed Hux's wrist and dragged his hand away from her face as she slid away from him; remaining sat next to him.

"Am I interrupting something?" the Supreme Leader's voice once again was that disconcertingly calm tone, conveying his anger as usual.

"No" Vallterene responded, choosing not to antagonise him today, despite Hux smirking cockily next to her.

But what Ren didn't see, was Hux's hand that had been on her face was now gripping her mid thigh.


	11. Adventures in jealousy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Vallterene and Hux plan a mission and Ren isn't best pleased...

It was early into the morning cycle, that Vallterene bounded up to General Hux on the bridge like a rather gothic, happy loth kitten.

"Good morning" Hux greeted her quietly, in the same tone of voice that he had used when they spoke in the meeting room when they'd been locked in. She felt one of his gloved fingers gently and discreetly stroke one of her own fingers, in what seemed like a loving gesture. 

It unnerved her.

Hux clearly had some emotional baggage which had made him lonely, and he seemed to be channeling everything in to her. And to her dismay, against the Emperor's strong advice, she found herself to be emotionally involved with him, too.

She gave him an extremely small smile, signifying she had received his gesture, which she saw made him happy.

"Would you like to come on an adventure?" She asked him, keeping her face as stoic as possible as they were in public.

"What? On the ship?"

"No, off ship. I need to go and find something"

Hux looked at her curiously, before his face fell.

"I don't usually go off ship unless its absolutely necessary" 

To Vallterene's surprise, Armitage seemed genuinely crestfallen.

"Don't worry about it, I've cleared it. Plus someone needs to supervise me" she said with a wink, eluding to something else again. It was also true that she had cleared it with the Emperor, who was pleased with her progress.

Hux took a scandalously close step forward, his immaculately polished right boot was placed between her feet as he moved.

"What's the adventure?" he whispered, excited.

"Don't sound too thrilled" she teased, nudging him gently as she too shifted closer, "I need to go to Hoth to find a Kyber crystal, there's supposed to be some there in some Crystalline caves"

"Kyber? You have a lightsaber"

"It isn't really mine, it was for training and so the crystal isn't attuned to me which makes for unfortunate accidents"

Hux looked thoughtful for a few seconds.

"And you cleared this with Ren?"

"Uh, not exact-"

"Cleared WHAT with Ren?" that modulated voice seethed, approaching the pair from the left as Vallterene spun every so slightly to make it look as if her and the General weren't stood as close as they really were.

"Myself and the General with a squadron of stormtroopers are going to Hoth in search of Kyber"

"Who sanctioned this?"

"The Emperor"

All of a sudden, Vallterene was falling through the air. Her head slammed against the right wall of the bridge roughly with a sickening crack. Vaguely, she could hear someone who sounded like Hux yelling as she then slammed into the floor with her airways closed off. Very slowly, she was raised off the ground by her closed off neck, by an extremely fuming Kylo Ren.

"WHO LEADS THE FIRST ORDER?!" He yelled, voice distorted by the modulator in his sinister mask. Vallterene couldn't reply, choking for breath with blurred vision.

Hux yelled continuously in protest.

"I DO" Ren spat, before unceremoniously dropping his apprentice to the ground and marching towards the front of the bridge. 

Vallterene lay curled on the floor before the General, who looked horrified and angry, as she gasped for breath. Phenomenally quickly, she rose to her feet and shot her hand out, grasping Ren's retreating back with the force; tugging him backwards.

"and I AM THE EMPEROR'S APPRENTICE I COME UNDER HIS JURISDICTION"

The silence that washed over the bridge was palpable. Everybody, including Vallterene, waited with baited breath for Ren's response. From behind her, Hux grabbed her wrist firmly, which she interpreted as intended to be supportive and protective...sadly it was neither.

The Supreme Leader remained in his position further up the bridge, as he decided to speak.

"Okay," his voice was the calmest she had ever heard it, meaning Vallterene had definitely taken it too far this time, even though Ren started it. "Well we will see just how under his jurisdiction you are in our training session in 10 standard minutes. If you do well, you can take General Hux with you on your pathetic trip" Ren spat Hux's name venomously.

It appeared, Vallterene had succeeded at making Ren jealous already.

********************************

"Let's spar"

Of course he wanted to spar, why would he want to do anything else?

Vallterene tried her best not to huff, and instead took off her cloak so she was left in her lightweight black robes. Igniting her lightsaber, she turned to face her master, who had since removed his helmet, his attractive face shrouded in anger.

The two swung their respective weapons, the glowing blades hissing and shrieking as they came into contact with each other. Vallterene ducked as Ren swung a punishing blow horizontally towards her neck which she narrowly missed, bringing her own lightsaber up towards her master's arm which he too narrowly missed.

The two pulled away, circling each other.

"What is going on with you and the general?" his natural voice hissed, pointing his crackling red lightsaber at her menacingly.

"What? Nothing...why? Are you jealous?" Vallterene teased spitefully as Ren growled, throwing himself at her again; chopping at her with the hot blade, which his apprentice avoided by bunny hopping to the left and kicking him remarkably harshly in the shin, with her the toe of her reinforced boots, which made him shout in pain and bend himself backwards ever so slightly.

Vallterene stepped backwards, observing as Ren groaned in pain wrapping one of his arms around his chest.

The burn! Kriff, she'd forgotten to change his bandages.

Growling, his face contorted with rage, Ren staggered forwards; swinging his lightsaber threateningly.

Vallterene lowered her weapon, wide eyed.

"I forgot to change your bandages, kriff I'm sorry"

Ren ignored this and instead lunged forwards, his breath coming out jagged because of the severe pain emanating from his chest. At this point, Vallterene was convinced with his quick movements, that Ren would've opened up the wound again completely and therefore he had undone any of the healing which had begun.

Their weapons clashed a few times more, before Ren shouted in pain again.

"Seriously! Stop this madness you are hurting yourself!" Vallterene commanded, catching the Supreme Leader off guard by using the force to tug his lightsaber from his grip; before she extinguished both of their weapons as she stared him down.

Panting, the two dark force users stared at each other and it was the apprentice who broke away first. 

"There should be a medpack in here somewhere, I put it in here after last time"

Retrieving the small metal box, Vallterene somewhat reluctantly returned to Ren.

"Sit down"

He didn't move.

"For kriffs sake, at least take your tunic off so I can see the damage"

He just stared at her, his eyes flickering to both weapons hanging from her belt, before back up to her concerned and annoyed face.

"KYLO" she yelled syllable by syllable, as he finally began to unclasp his belt and slip out of his tunic.

It was just as Vallterene had expected. The wound had opened and split further because of his exacerbated movements.

"Stars above, I told you to stop" she murmured sadly, taking in the sight of the mangled and bloody surface burn.

Turning away, she used the force to levitate the kit in mid air to rifle through it; when suddenly she was stumbling backwards again.

Ren's gloved hand was wrapped around her throat, forcing her backwards across the room until she was trapped against the wall and her master's broad sweating, bleeding torso.

He wasn't exactly choking her in anyway, he was just holding her in place whilst he stared at her.

"Stop this, I need to treat you, you've made it so much wor..."

Ren's mouth dived onto hers, sucking the very breath from her lungs as he kissed her ferociously; hand still wrapped around her throat. Vallterene slowly wrapped her arms around his neck, but did not kiss him back with the same ferocity, taken aback by his actions.

He eventually pulled away, before tightening his grip on her neck abruptly.

"Think about THAT while you're off...gallivanting with General Hux" he sneered, pushing away from her and turning to walk away.

With all the strength she could muster, Vallterene wrestled him to the ground on his back; using the force to hold him in place.

"You are SO kriffing stubborn, maker!" she roared, summoning the medpack with the force.

She disinfected, then re-dressed the burn as best she could from their position on the floor.

"Me and Hux are leaving late tonight in the evening-cycle. We'll be gone for maximum 3-4 days"

"It doesn't take that long to harvest Kyber" his voice wasn't angry now, it was more gentle...pleading almost.

"We have to travel all the way to Hoth, locate the crystalline systems and then my crystal. Yes it does" Vallterene explained, matching his tone.

"Why can't _I_ come with you?" 

Vallterene couldn't even begin to comprehend this man. He throws her around like a rag-doll one minute, is whining like a little boy about her leaving the next.

"Because, you have to hunt the scavenger and rest."

He frowned miserably.

The pair shifted to a sitting position, so Vallterene was sat just below his knees as Ren sat up, legs outstretched.

"As your superior," Vallterene began in a mock-serious voice "I command you to rest, by the time I get back I want you healed so that I can kick your kriffing ass and not feel bad about it"

"Oh? Is that so?" Ren retorted playfully, eyebrows raised as his apprentice moved to get off him.

At the last minute, Ren grasped the young woman's arm and tugged her back. Leaning forward, he whispered in her ear, "And stop swearing, or I will simply have to punish that mouth"

His words made Vallterene's eyes widen.

Languidly, she leaned backwards.

"Well, that is kriffing noted"

Abruptly, she shot up just out of Ren's grasp to head out of the training space, escaping successfully.

With a pleased smirk, she decided to head to Hux's quarters.


	12. Hoth: Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Hux and Vallterene begin their journey to Hoth

The command shuttle was surprisingly nice inside, Vallterene noted as she sat behind the two pilots, next to Hux infront of the small squadron of stormtroopers.

According to the pilots, they were entering their landing descent as they'd just entered the atmosphere of the snowy planet Hoth. Hux was wearing his winter uniform, an outrageously thick and heavy great coat with thermal insulated pants and tunic, which almost swamped him completely. Vallterene too was wearing winter attire, her thickest and warmest robes with a long hooded cloak.

Abruptly, the shuttle appeared to hover in mid air as a whirring sound began, signifying that the wings were moving vertically upward for landing. Confirming this, the shuttle soon began to descend rapidly.

Vallterene spun around in her swivelling chair, to address the small group of stormtroopers they'd brought with them, whom were dressed in their snowtrooper attire.

"Okay, according to my calculations from old jedi navigational charts, we should be in the region of several Crystalline cave structures. They should be relatively easy to spot, the mouths of them are absolutely massive and jagged you can't miss them. If you locate one, comm me" Vallterene instructed concisely, gesturing to the comm-link device strapped to her left leather wrist guard.

"Oh, and be careful for Wampas this is their territory. I don't want to be spooning any of you into a bodybag in the hold" Vallterene stated brutally honestly, before spinning herself back around to face the pilots.

"What am I doing?" Hux asked politely, turning to her again.

"You're coming with me" Vallterene explained, choosing not to flash him a smile just yet.

The General nodded as with a thud, the command shuttle touched down.

****************

"It's so cold" Hux complained, shivering despite his many layers as the initially surveyed the area.

Playfully, Vallterene turned to him, waggling her fingers as she summoned little sparks of force lightning.

"I can warm you up, if you'd like" she smiled devilishly.

Hux recoiled, jumping slighty.

"Relax! I'm kidding" Vallterene laughed at the horrified expression on his face.

The pair trudged through the snow around the shuttle in silence, before Hux spoke again.

"Ren can't do that" he observed quietly, subconsciously staring at her gloved hands; as they came to a halt under one of the shuttle's vertical wings.

"Do what?"

"The force lightning"

Once again, Hux proved that he knew more than she anticipated him to about the force. She had just accidentally shown him the extent of her actual power, instead of the limited version she had been showing both him and Ren to further the idea that she was a lowly, clueless apprentice.

"Oh?" Vallterene shrugged, not bothering to try and bluff the General. He was far too intelligent for that type of response.

"Who are you?" he whispered lowly, taking another step towards her, his face incredulous and inquisitive.

"I'm Vallterene...you know that" she whispered, as he cautiously look her gloved hand in his gloved hand.

"Oh yes...yes I do" he confirmed, eyes wide as she laughed and nudged him.

"Allegiant General" A snowtrooper appeared behind them.

"Yes?" Vallterene responded, turning to them.

"We have located what appears to be the entrance to a crystalline cave structure"

"Excellent!" Vallterene exclaimed, clasping her hands together as the snowtrooper disappeared against.

"Are you actually an Allegiant General?" Hux asked with a scoff.

Vallterene laughed at his disjointed expression.

"Not really, ever since I wore that uniform that's how people have been referring to me and it pissed Pryde off so much that I just decided to go for it"

Vallterene turned to follow the direction that the snowtrooper had disappeared in.

"Don't worry, you aren't fraternizing with a superior" she whispered with a smug tone, as he followed her.

"Fraternizing? We haven't done anything" Hux responded in mock-outrage.

"Yet" she added sensually, staring up at him through her lashes.

Hux narrowed his eyes, trying to weigh up exactly what she was doing.

********************

The crystalline cave was absolutely stunning. The white, pure fluffy snow lined the ground inside with beautiful icicles and other ice formations hanging off of every surface. A makeshift stone and snow walk-way lined the entirety of the oval shaped deep pit inside of the cave, spiraling around it's outer walls; leading down into the depths of the system.

Vallterene could already feel the force signatures of the crystals deep below them, which was definitely a good sign. Herself and the General walked side by side in front of the snowtroopers who walked in formation a few paces behind them.

They were around half way down the spiraling walkway, when Vallterene abruptly halted with her left arm outstretched, signifying for everybody else to halt too.

Something was wrong.

She was just about to wave the troopers in front of herself and Hux in a protective stance, when the ice wall to their left ahead completely exploded outwards. Appearing from the frosty rubble, was an extremely hungry looking Wampa. It launched forwards, grabbing Vallterene's leg in an attempt to tip her upside down, as was typical Wampa behaviour.

A barrage of ammunition and lasers flew past her as both the troopers and the General fired at the rabid, snow beast. Using her force lightning abilities in a panic, Vallterene zapped the Wampa fiercely, sending it flying backwards across the walkway. As it preoccupied itself with scrambling to its feet again, Vallterene then reached under her cloak and grasped the lightsaber before charging at the rabid animal. With two broad strokes, the wampa had been decapitated and it's massive body lay motionless.

"Nothing like a bit of excitement" she sighed, breathing the cold air of the cave in deeply to catch her breath.

Before she knew it, the General was beside her again.

"Are you alright?"

"Never better" she flashed him a grin, before the group sidestepped the Wampa corpse and continued their descent into the belly of the cave system.

At long last, the spiraled path plateaued out at the bottom of the cave, revealing an incredibly dark opening. The force signature definitely originated from inside this deep, dark cave opening beneath the main structure.

"Wait here, guard the entrance" Vallterene instructed the snowtrooper squadron, before gesturing for Hux to follow her.

A comfortable silence washed over the pair, as they trekked into the darkness ahead. It soon became so dark, that they couldn't see their hands in front of their faces; which is when Vallterene decided to use her violet lightsaber as a light. The sound of the weapon being unclasped from her belt reverberated around the echoing tunnel; as she sensed Hux's unease. Without igniting the weapon, she reached out to beside her and grasped his hand to his surprise.

It had suddenly dawned on her, how this situation looked to him. She'd brought him off ship, far away from the first order into a pitch black cave, and had just unclasped her lightsaber.

He thought she was going to kill him.

She ignited the weapon, bathing the tunnel in a soft purple glow; revealing Hux.

"I'm not going to kill you" she scoffed gently and honestly, before holding the lightsaber out to garner better visibility.

Subtle relief bathed his features.

As they travelled further onwards, unexpectedly, the ground beneath Vallterene's feet disappeared and she found herself almost plummeting to her death.

"Kriffing hell" she stumbled into Hux's side, before she made the incredibly wise decision to look up.

The walls and ceiling of the massive, cavernous space looked like a galaxy. Colourless, glimmering white Kyber crystals looked like stars in the darkness and it was unlike anything she had ever had the luxury of setting her eyes on before.

"Woah..." she breathed, taking in their twinkling lights.

Hux followed her gaze, and he too seemed pleasantly surprised at how beautiful the structure was.

Vallterene used the light from her lightsaber to locate the narrow passage along the wall to her left, in order to join the main walkway around this massive, jagged expanse.

"Do you want to wait here?"She asked considerately, turning to the General whom was still staring at the surreal view.

"What? No of course I don't" he responded, as Vallterene led him to the extremely narrow walk way. They side stepped along it, with their backs to the wall.


	13. Hoth: Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Vallterene locates her crystal and they both locate themselves...

Once Hux and Vallterene had reached a reasonably safe place to stand, the young sith closed her eyes and grounded herself with the dark side of the force. Feeling the power surge through her, she then reached out with her mind to scan the cave.

She KNEW that her crystal was here, it was calling to her. Vallterene reached out even further, straining slightly.

Yes, it was here. She had found it.

Abruptly her eyes snapped open again, meeting the General's gaze.

"Found it" she announced with a victorious smirk.

"Your eyes have...changed"

Vallterene anticipated this. Whenever she strenuously channeled the dark side, she found her eyes changed to become orange and yellow; signifying the strength of her dark power.

"It happens sometimes..."Vallterene explained absentmindedly, turning away from him to follow the pull of her crystal. Stones and small rocks crunched under their respective black boots as they walked towards the right end of the cave, the General trailing slightly behind Vallterene.

She was just beginning to think they were heading in the wrong direction, when finally, Vallterene saw her Kyber crystal. At the mere sight of it, her breath caught in her throat.

Her connection to it was instantly powerful. It was absolutely beautiful, tall and thin jutting out of a jagged grey rock, shining ridiculously brightly because she was in close proximity to it.

"Here, hold this" Very carefully, and insuring the lightsaber was directly vertical so he didn't hurt himself; Vallterne held the weapon out to the General.

"Me?" he asked in surprise, eyeing the weapon up cautiously.

"Yeah, you, I need to harvest my crystal"

Extremely tentatively, Hux reached out and grabbed the hilt of the lightsaber, as if it were something priceless which he didn't want to break.

Slowly, and almost nervously, Vallterene edged closer towards the glowing kyber crystal and wrapped her hand around it.  
Instantly, raw, unbridled power flowed through her.  
Yes, this was definitely hers.  
With help from the force, Vallterene slipped the edge of her thumb under the crystal and managed to ever so delicately prize it out from the rock without damaging it.  
The large crystal glowed brightly in her hand, yes, she was excited to bleed it and tune it to her very soul. Satisfied, she slipped the crystal into a bag strapped to her thigh for safe keeping, before turning back to her accomplice.

To her surprise, Vallterene found the General utterly engrossed with the lightsaber. He was shakily and very cautiously moving it from side to side, his eyes glued to the glowing blade as it hummed through the air.

"Don't be coming for my job, you" Vallterene teased as his eyes snapped back to her, like a naughty child who had been caught playing with something he shouldn't have.  
"Come on then" she added, turning back to the cave opening they'd emerged from. 

They were almost at the entrance, when Hux spoke again.

"Oh, look at that one!" He exclaimed, moving around Vallterene, still holding the lightsaber as a light source. He was referring to another crystal, shorter and wider than her own, which was glistening brightly against the darkness of the cavern.

"Is it calling to you?" She asked softly, knowing that it couldn't really because he wasn't force sensitive like herself.  
He chuckled softly in response.

"No,no...it's just...nice"  
"Well," Vallterene began, equally as softly, "Maybe it's a sign, perhaps this crystal would've been yours if you were force sensitive"  
Not waiting for his response, Vallterene gently harvested the crystal and turned back to the General.  
With a small smile, she took his free hand and placed the crystal in it, before curling his fingers over it for him.  
It was then that she noticed just how close she was to the man opposite her.   
She looked up, and the soft smile on her lips soon disappeared when she saw the look on the Generals face. A torrent of millions of emotions seemed to be washing over him as he looked down at her, before he settled on one. 

Armitage looked like he was going to eat her, consume her and keep him for himself he looked like he...wanted her.

Very abruptly, his free hand (still clutching the crystal) shot out and curled around her waist pulling her remarkably close to him and into his chest. The violet lightsaber was no longer vertical, it had fallen to a horizontal level as Hux made the best decision of his entire life to date.

He found himself kissing Vallterene Supiatrist.

Her arms flew up around his neck to deepen the kiss, her fingers tangling in his ginger locks; messing up his regulation style. Their tongues fought for dominance in a sloppy duel, as they embraced each other passionately.

Hux wanted to fuck her right there in that cave, but it was way too cold to shed even one article of clothing so that was definitely out of the question.  
He was struggling to control his heartbeat. The power he felt in that moment, was unmatched. In fact, Hux would go as far as to say he felt like a god...a force sensitive god at that. Standing there, assaulting Vallterene's pretty little mouth with a searing kiss as he clutched a lightsaber in his other hand yes, this was how he wanted to live his life from now on; he knew he wanted her.

Kriff, is this how it felt to be Kylo Ren?

He could only wonder.

"Allegiant General, General?" A snowtrooper hollered from back in the main entrance to the whole crystalline system. He hadn't seen them, but he clearly had some important news.

Vallterene was the first to break away, gasping for air as she held Hux's flushed face, staring into his gorgeous green eyes as he stared in disbelief down at her. Their breathing was synchronised as they desperately tried to calm down and control themselves.

"Possible resistance reconnaissance ships have been spotted and the Supreme Leader has demanded your return immediately"

Vallterene's blood ran cold.   
The resistance ,she could deal with, but why would Ren demand their return? The bastard hadn't sensed what was happening, had he? They were Master and Apprentice, close in the force and bound in that way but surely he wouldn't have been able to sense that...unless she forgot herself mid-kiss and amplified what was happening to him via the force.

Surely she hadn't been as foolish as to do that, had she?


	14. The journey home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Hux and Vallterne share a tender moment.
> 
> A/N Thanks for all the support! Comment any ideas or thoughts you may have, love you all!

In the small, lower deck of the command shuttle, Vallterene lay on an uncomfortable rock solid excuse for a bed; breathing deeply and evenly as she meditated through the force.

She was still trying to determine whether she had accidentally amplified her little rendezvous with Hux, through the force to the Supreme Leader and if she had, she knew she was dead meat.  
With every ounce of power she could formulate, Vallterene probed out, to try and feel her connection to Kylo Ren. She did find their bond eventually, but couldn't sense any detachment or anger, so surely that was a good sign?  
She didn't know much about bonds, the Emperor hadn't got up to teaching her about them before he decided to ship her off to Ren; which was vastly hindering her understanding of the situation at hand.

Disrupting her mediation, the hatch leading down to the lower level flung open and someone began to walk down the shallow steps.  
Hux.  
Of course it was.  
Watching him with one eye open, the General appeared to stumble a little before making his way to the nearest stone bed, as opposed to Vallterene, who had chosen the furthest away.  
Was he drunk?  
No...no. There was no liquor on board...it must be exhaustion, that must be why he was stumbling. It was then that she realised in the entirety of their four day trip, Vallterene hadn't seen Hux sleep once. She herself hadn't slept, she didn't like to sleep in potentially hostile situations away from the comfort and safety of the Finalizer; but the difference was that she could meditate in the force and rejuvenate her energy.

Hux could not.

She watched as he lay on his back, staring at the ceiling; occasionally squirming and sighing as if trying to get comfortable, which from her own experience she knew would be impossible. The vibrations she picked up from Hux via the force, were pure exhaustion and sadness; as Vallterene watched the General repeatedly begin to slowly drift off to sleep, before his own mind appeared to trip him up by presenting either a bad idea or a bad memory; whatever it was happened to be so atrocious that it completely stopped him from sleeping.

It was then that she remembered when she had slipped into his quarters, seeing the alcohol bottles littering the space.

Hux was hiding some serious crap.

Making the executive decision to offer to help him, Vallterene swung her legs over the side of the small, solid cot bed and stretched languidly, before heading over to the General.

"Oh, Rene, I forgot you were down here" the General slurred his speech, the severe fatigue prevalent in his voice.

Rene? The shortened version of her name made a soft smile want to claw its way onto her face, but she swallowed it down.

"Rene? Is that my nickname now?" she teased gently, moving to stand at his bedside.

He mumbled something incoherent, tossing and turning again. 

"Would you like me to help you sleep?" she offered softly, keeping her face as neutral as possible.

At this, Hux's eyes snapped open and he suddenly looked wide awake; panic clouding his face.

"What? Like what Ren does, and what you did to Ren?" he was clearly thinking she would use the dark side force trick of forcing the victim into a deep slumber, which they can't get out of completely willingly, unless the victim them self was force-sensitive.

Vallterene shook her head no.

"No, what I am referring too is actually an old Jedi healing trick. I'll displace the memories keeping you awake and..."

"What memories? There are no memories" Hux combated defensively, gulping harshly at the realisation that she knew something was going on.

"You really think you can pull that with me, huh?" she responded, arching an eyebrow.

Hux remained silent.

"As I was saying, I'll displace the memories keeping you awake temporarily and gently numb your mind so you can get to sleep naturally, I wouldn't be forcing you into sleep at all"

Armitage appeared to consider this briefly, before his heavy, tired eyes looked up at her again like a lost puppy.

"Are you sure?"

The sith woman nodded gently, before adding "If you trust me, I trust you"

Eventually, the ginger nodded and Vallterene gestured for him to shift up on the bed, so there was enough space for her to slide onto it next to him. To his surprise, she propped herself up beside him and wrapped her arms around him very subtly, so that she could hold his head between her hands lightly. 

Ever so slowly, as to ensure she caused him no pain, Vallterene slipped into his mind; being instantly greeted with horrendous childhood memories which all seemed to feature his father:

Brendol Hux.

She almost felt suffocated, due to the vast amount of utterly horrifying things she was witnessing; from beatings to being denied food and being verbally abused, Brendol had done it all. After re-arranging the memories slightly in his consciousness, so they were no longer at the fore front of his mind, Vallterene then encouraged relaxation by tenderly administering what can only be described as a natural tranquilizer through the force.

Soon, the General's head was lolling to the side as he fell asleep, subconsciously burying itself into the base of Vallterene's pale neck. She thought she would've been secretly irritated by this, but actually, she didn't really mind; she was more warm and comfortable lying with Armitage than she had been lying on her own, at the back in the cold, trying to meditate.

With a deep breath, she once again grounded herself in the dark side, feeling herself slip into a deep meditative state.

**********************

Armitage Hux had just had the best sleep he had had in years. In fact, it wouldn't even be an over dramatization to say that it was the best slumber he had ever had in his entire life. When he eventually came to, the General was instantly aware that he was not alone on the uncomfortable cot. Wrapped in his arms, was a curled up Vallterene. One of her arms was behind his neck, the other wresting on his chest as she shifted slightly, drawing attention to their entangled legs. He was hyper aware all of a sudden, her hair was tickling his bare neck and chin and it smelt utterly glorious, like Fuji apples and Muja fruit; her small even breaths danced across the base of his neck.

He needed to get up.

Now.

Before he did something he would regret.

Gradually, Armitage unfurled himself from her unconscious form; turning to perch on the end of an adjacent cot. Yawning, Hux rubbed at his face and as he reopened his eyes, was incredibly startled to find Vallterene wide awake, sat at the end of the cot that she had appeared to be asleep on just seconds before; facing him.

"Kriffing hell, I though you were asleep"

"No" she responded, running her fingers through her long dark hair absentmindedly as she replied to him. "I was deeply meditating in the force whilst you slept"

It was then that Hux grew quiet, remembering the events which had preceded him having such a phenomenal sleep. 

"You saw, didn't you" he whispered, ashamed and alarmed.

Maker, Vallterene was one of the only people in the entirety of the damned first order which he felt he had a real connection with; in fact the only person in existence that he felt he had a real connection with, beside his mother, which was a completely different story.

But now, Vallterene, being the strong force sensitive she was, would think him weak and pathetic. 

He knew it.

"Hey" Vallterne's suddenly cold and serious tone caught him off guard, turning his full attention back to her. "I don't know the full story of what happened in your past, but what I do know is you are more than 5 times the man that that little rat could EVER have dreamed of becoming, and I mean that with every single fiber of my being"

Abruptly, she stood up.

"I'm guessing we will probably be back soon, we should head up"


	15. The beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which things begin to get steamy...get ready folks it only gets hotter from here

When Vallterene had disembarked the command shuttle, she wasn't sure what she would find at the bottom of the ramp. She half expected to find half of the First Order's entire stormtrooper population, lined up ready to obliterate them; with Ren stood front and centre.

What reason would he give? For treason? Or would he not give one at all, just give the order to execute them.

But what she found was...nothing and most startlingly, no Ren, which was confusing her because he specifically had summoned them back.

In fact, Vallterene hadn't seen Ren in days, despite sensing his presence onboard, he had failed to show up for their training sessions or any briefings and so against her better judgement, she'd made the decision to venture to his quarters; to either face the music or to get answers.

As she walked further down the darkening corridor, towards the unassuming door at the very end of it; she could feel the strength of the dark force signature grow ever stronger. He would be able to sense her by now, a fact which unnerved her beyond belief.

Swallowing her pride, the apprentice was just about to use the force to cause the mechanism to allow the door to open; when it opened for her before she had even so much as raised her hand.

Ren definitely knew she was here.

Hesitantly, Vallterene took a shaky step forwards; the door sliding shut firmly behind her, trapping her in the dark, cold sprawling expanse of the Supreme Leader's quarters.

Kriffing kriff, Vallterene cursed in her mind as she shuffled further forward, this was a really stupid idea. Ren was clearly having an absolute temper tantrum over something, it would've been best to have just let him simmer for a few days...the lightsaber damage and deep lacerations into the walls on the way here should've given her all the warnings she required, but she ignored them. 

Of course she did.

One minute, Vallterene had been stood thinking to herself, the next the breath had been knocked out of her lungs and she was lying face down on the ground with what appeared to be Kylo Ren's foot in her mid-back, holding her in place.

"What the -" she gasped, too dazed to instantly use the force to push him off.

"Am I having a tantrum? Am I really?" Ren seethed, spitting with such venom that it shocked her to her core.

"I'll show you a kriffing tantrum" he hissed, suddenly using the force to pull her up by her hair, which as soon as she was upright, he grabbed with his actual hand to tug her head back violently, so she was forced to look up at his fuming face, which was contorted with sheer rage.

Vallterene didn't know why she wasn't fighting back, or at least that's what she kept telling herself. The real reason was because she was enjoying this, really, r e a l l y enjoying this. She liked that he was angry, and that she could feel everything; his leather covered fingers scraping her scalp as he intertwined them ever tighter in her hair and his labored, angry breaths which fanned across her face.

Oh yes, she was really enjoying this.

Unexpectedly, Ren then began to walk forwards; dragging her behind him by her hair before he then practically threw his apprentice infront of him, as he released her from his vice-like grip; only to then have her trapped against him and the wall, next to the door that led into his bed chambers.

His angry, gold-flecked hazel eyes stared down at her; narrowing as her surveyed her startled face. Those same eyes flickered to her lips, before he brought one of his fingers to her mouth.

"Bite" he instructed, his voice shaking with animosity, the muscle under his eye twitching.

Vallterene, as stubborn as ever, made no effort to move. She watched on, entertained almost, as the muscle just below his right eye twitched once more.

"I said" he snarled, using his other hand to grasp her neck firmly "BITE"

Reluctantly, staring up at him through her lashes, Vallterene parted her lips and clamped her teeth around the fingertip of his leather glove as he pulled his hand back and out of it, before repeating this with the other hand that had been around her neck.

To his surprise, it was then that his apprentice swung into action. Vallterene forced him backwards, before darting through the door next to her and into his bed chamber which in hindsight, was a very bad idea.

"VALLTERENE!" He roared, the anger which had seemed to dissipate slightly had returned in full form.

Jerking forwards and backwards, unsure on which direction to choose as she realised that there was literally nowhere for her to run or hide, Vallterene decided to lurch forward and dash across to the other side of the room.

Soon enough, Ren was already behind her and what ensued can only been described as a battle of wills. Both force sensitives used their abilities to throw each other around the room, with Vallterene's lighter body mass betraying her as the Supreme Leader appeared able to throw her a much longer distance, much easier.

Eventually they both ended up on the bed, fighting each other with just their fists and raw strength. Vallterene once again found herself straddling Ren, landing punch after punch on his face and chest before he eventually managed to grab her wrists and flip them over.

Completely pinned under his body weight, Vallterene found it hard to breath once again as she squirmed and struggled as much as was physically possible.   
But it was no use.  
With her wrists pinned down at either side of her head, she was completely vulnerable.   
And she kinda liked it.  
Vallterene wasn't completely sure what Ren would do now, he seemed to be unsure of that himself as he hovered above her staring down.

Fiercely, after seeming to debate it for a while, Ren's mouth swooped down onto hers, his searing kiss utterly consuming her. She kissed him back, just as fiercely, their tongues fighting for dominance as it became sloppier. Abruptly, he pulled away, breathless as he changed their position, pushing Vallterene off the bed as he sat on the edge of it.  
"On your knees, apprentice" he growled, shoving her down, her knees hitting the floor with a dull thud which reverberated around the room.  
His crazy eyes gave her a silent threat, as he appeared to begin unfastening his leather trousers.

(Get ready lovelies....;-))


	16. Hard to get

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Vallterene escapes Ren by the skin of her teeth, and seeks solace with a certain general.

(A/N - I am so, SO sorry that I haven't updated in so long; college has been hectic and deadlines have been crazy with the virus etc. I hope to be more consistent from now on!)

If Kylo Ren thought he was going to have Vallterene that easily, he was completely wrong.

On her knees before him, Vallterene couldn't help but stare up into her master's crazed eyes as she began to formulate her plan. Desire was pooling between her legs, but she wouldn't... _couldn't_ let it get the best of her. If she did this now, Ren wouldn't be at his most vulnerable; he would just hate-fuck her because he had an inkling that something had happened with Hux.

She had to keep him _waiting_ , she had to keep him _wanting_.

"I think you've got it all wrong -" Vallterene began, but her words were quickly stolen right from out of her mouth, when she felt a shift in the force around her. It pushed her backwards so that her backside now touched the floor and her thighs were parted, so that it could reach her core. Ren, still looming over her, had successfully unfastened his trousers but had now taken to manipulating the force to bring pleasure to his apprentice. She tried to move and escape the force which was ravishing her clitoris, but it was no use. Ren had her right where he wanted her.

As this was all happening, all Vallterene could picture was Hux. His sensitivity as they lay in each other's arms, the way he had kissed her...she didn't want to let him down. 

But, on the other hand, there was Kylo who was here with her right now. His chisselled pale face with his tormented, angry eyes boring into her as he watched her whimper and moan as the force rubbed furiously between her legs. Overall, it appeared that despite the emperor's wishes; she had in fact become emotionally involved.

With both of them.

Ren was seething with rage. He wanted to punish her, he wanted to ruin her...but not today. 

Vallterene was clearly enjoying herself somewhat, and this was not meant to be a pleasurable experience. 

"I was going to have you suck my cock, but I've changed my mind." He hissed spitefully, spittle showering her face as he seethed at his moaning apprentice below him. "You're a disgusting slut and I don't think you're worthy enough to so much as look at my dick."

Vallterene couldn't lie, through the orgasm which was mounting, she was disappointed that she wouldn't see his dick. She knew he was massive from the bulge straining against his leather trousers and the suspense had been killing her.

Whining, within the tight constraint that the force had on her, Vallterene softly rolled her hips as if to grind against the invisible hands which caressed every inch of her body sensually, but her euphoria was short lived. Just as she reached her peak, everything ceased, ruining her orgasm spectacularly.

Thighs shaking, Vallterene's distraught head snapped back up to look at Ren who was smirking in amusement, as she panted in disbelief.

"That's what you get for being a manipulative brat" He hissed, his voice that discerningly calm tone which meant he was actually infuriated beyond belief. He pounced at her, grabbing her by her hair and pulling her harshly to her feet. Kylo sat on the bed, before dragging her downwards so that she was laid over his lap with her arse in the air.

"Count." He uttered the word emotionlessly, before Vallterene felt the first sharp slap to her ass.

"Ouch!" She snapped, irritable from both the pain blooming over buttocks but also from her ruined orgasm. All she wanted was to cum now, but she knew her master would never let her.

"That's NOT a number." He growled, harshly grabbing the tender pink skin her had just smacked.

"One" 

SMACK

"Two"

SMACK

"THREE" Vallterene yelped, jolting in Ren's lap as the painful spanking was instantly spending deep stabs of pleasure through her body. As she moved against him, she could feel the hardness of his arousal and was certain she could hear his breath hitch each time she brushed him.

SMACK

"F...F...Four"

SMACK

"Fi..ah...Five"

SMACK

"Six"

By now, Ren was watching with approval as Vallterene's pale ass was clouding over with rosy red hand prints and he came to realise just how much he enjoyed marking her gorgeously milky skin. The cycle of Ren spanking her, accompanied by Vallterene's moaned counting continued until with a strangled cry, Vallterene exclaimed:

"THIRTYYYYYYY"

The brooding man gave her no time to even consider composing herself, before carelessly, Kylo tossed her out of his lap and onto the floor. 

"Get out of my sight."

Vallterene didn't need to be told twice as she quickly fixed her robes, though she absolutely hated the way he had made her feel. She needed to have the last word, even just for her own sanity. When she turned back to stare at him again, it did give her some kind of satisfaction to see that he seemed to be struggling to restrain himself and to cope with just how tight his pants had become.

Mustering up as confident an expression as she could physically force onto her face, Vallterene made sure that Kylo was staring at her before beginning. After very obviously flicking her eyes down to his crotch and then back up to his eyes, Vallterene began to speak.

"Good luck with that" She added over her shoulder salaciously, before promptly walking as quickly as possible towards the door.

"WAIT!" Kylo yelled, the lust in his tone making his voice even deeper and huskier; but Vallterene didn't give him the time of day and despite the pounding between her legs, she left Kylo's quarters.

************************************************

As soon as Vallterene had arrived in the comfort of her quarters, she'd tossed off her sweaty and disheveled robes to change into some simple black silk nightwear. It was nothing elaborate, just shorts and a strappy vest top; but the soft fabric brought solace to her burning skin.

Restlessly, she paced around her quarters whilst tugging her black and silver hair up into a messy braid. Eventually, she made her decision and padded barefoot over into her bed chamber in order to slip on her black officers boots; before slipping on a very over sized black greatcoat.

She would go to Armitage.

She was not in the mood to be alone.

Slipping her newly built lightsaber into one of the deep pockets of the coat, she decided she would use that as one of her primary excuses to come and see the ginger general; whom she had been subconsciously avoiding since they returned from their little mission.

Vallterene's journey was short and uninterrupted, though she did sense the surprise of a few squadrons of storm troopers as they took in her clothing. Standing outside the General's quarters, she decided to be polite and knock on the door. At first, nothing happened. But eventually, after several insistent knocks, General Hux's door slid open to reveal him as Vallterene had never seen him before.

He was wearing dark coloured nightwear, with a tight fitting black t-shirt which revealed just how muscular the ginger was. Clasped in one of his pale hands, was a glass of iced whisky which looked delicious to Vallterene.

"Have you got one of those for me?" She asked tiredly, nodding to the glass he clutched. The man didn't reply for a few seconds, blinking several times as if he could not believe that she was actually stood at his door so late into the night cycle.

"Of course I have, Vallterene."


End file.
